Abstract
The thin-film organic solar cells (OSCs) are currently one of the most promising photovoltaic technologies to effectively harvest the solar energy due to their attractive features of mechanical flexibility, light weight, low-cost manufacturing, and solution-processed large-scale fabrication, etc. However, the relative insufficient light absorption, short exciton diffusion distance, and low carrier mobility of the OSCs determine the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the devices are relatively lower than their inorganic photovoltaic counterparts. To conquer the challenges, the two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, which have excellent photoelectric properties, tunable energy band structure, and solvent compatibility etc., exhibit the great potential to enhance the performance of the OSCs. In this review, we summarize the most recent successful applications of the 2D materials, including graphene, black phosphorus, transition metal dichalcogenides, and g-C3N4, etc., adapted in the charge transporting layer, the active layer, and the electrode of the OSCs, respectively, for boosting the PCE and stability of the devices. The strengths and weaknesses of the 2D materials in the application of OSCs are also reviewed in details. Additionally, the challenges, commercialization potentials, and prospects for the further development of 2D materials-based OSCs are outlined in the end.
Highlights
Globe environment pollution and energy crisis have become the major issues accompanied with the economic growth owing to the excessive consumption of fossil resources
We summarize a series of novel 2D materials applied in the active layer, hole transport layer (HTL), and the electron transport layer (ETL), as well as the electrode in the Organic solar cells (OSCs) to enhance the efficiency and stability of the devices, including graphene and its derivatives, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), and black phosphorus (BP), etc
The incorporation of suitable 2D materials in the ETL usually could enhance the power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of the OSCs over 10%, which demonstrated that it is an efficient way to promote the performance of OSCs
Summary
Globe environment pollution and energy crisis have become the major issues accompanied with the economic growth owing to the excessive consumption of fossil resources. With tunable bandgaps exhibit carrier mobilities several orders of magnitude higher than those of the organic semiconductors in OSCs. The incorporation of suitable 2D materials into the OSCs, can enhance the light absorption and scattering in the devices, and improve the charge transport and suppress the carrier recombination, leading to an enhancement of PCE with the increased fill factor (FF) and short-circuit current density (Jsc) of the OSCs. Besides, appropriate 2D materials can replace the unstable PEDOT:PSS layer or evaporated electrodes for improving the stability and simplifying the fabrication process of the OSCs. In this review, we summarize a series of novel 2D materials applied in the active layer, HTL, and the electron transport layer (ETL), as well as the electrode in the OSCs to enhance the efficiency and stability of the devices, including graphene and its derivatives, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), and black phosphorus (BP), etc. The challenges and the commercialization prospects for the further development of OSCs based on 2D layered materials are discussed
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