Three-layer organic solar cell with high-power conversion efficiency of 3.5%

Abstract

To prepare organic solar cells with practical level of energy-conversion efficiency, the following strategies were adopted. By using HD as the photosensitizer, which is heterodimer consisting of a weak electron-donating 5, 10, 15, 20-tetra(2, 5-dimethoxyphenyl)porphyrinatozinc and a weak electron-accepting 5, 10, 15-triphenyl-20-(3-pyridyl)porphyrin, intramolecular photoinduced electron transfer is promoted resulting in effective charge separation. To create an energetically well-arranged system, the HD was placed between an electron-acceptor layer of PV (perylene-3, 4, 9, 10-tetracarboxyl-bis-benzimidazole) and strong electron-donor layer of MC (3-carboxymethyl-5-[(3-ethyl-2(3H)-benzothiazolylidine)ethylidene]-2-thioxo-4-thiazolidinone), where photoinduced intermolecular electron transfer from HD to PV and rapid injection of electrons from MC to HD suppress back electron transfer in the charge-separated HD. As a result of this, the three-layer solar cell Al/PV/HD/MC/Au showed fairly good photovoltaic properties, short-circuit photocurrent quantum yield of 49.2%, open-circuit photovoltage of 0.39 V, fill factor of 0.51, and energy conversion yield of 3.51% when irradiated with 445 nm monochromatic light of 12 μW cm −2 intensity transmitted through the Al/PV interface. Since the photocurrent hardly decreased with age, the photocurrent observed here is really from energy conversion and not from photocorrosion of Al electrode being occasionally responsible for the photocurrent.