Abstract

MXenes, a novel intriguing family of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbides and nitrides, have a wide spectrum of applications owning to their unique optical and electronic properties. Herein, we use Ti3C2Tx, a representative of MXenes, as an additive in zinc oxide (ZnO) to fabricate novel ZnO/Ti3C2Tx nanohybrid composite film. The addition of Ti3C2TX nanosheets constructs new electron transport pathways between the ZnO nanocrystals, and passivates the surface of ZnO by forming the Zn-O-Ti bonding on the ZnO surface. The novel ZnO/Ti3C2Tx nanohybrid film exhibits excellent photoelectric characteristics, and is used as electron transport layers (ETLs) in fullerene and non-fullerene polymer solar cells for the first time. As a result, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the photovoltaic devices based on PBDB-T:ITIC with the ZnO/Ti3C2Tx ETLs is 12.20%, up from 10.56% for the corresponding device utilizing pristine ZnO as ETL, a relative increase of 15.53%. Moreover, PM6:Y6 based IPSCs achieve a champion PCE of 16.51% from 14.99% for the reference device, suggesting the good applicability of the ZnO/Ti3C2Tx ETL. The enhancement of PCE is mainly due to the increased transfer and collection of charges in IPSCs. More interestingly, devices based on ZnO/Ti3C2TX composite ETL display relatively good stability compared with the control device. The layered Ti3C2TX should be responsible for such enhancement.

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call