Journal article

High-efficiency inverted dithienogermole-thienopyrrolodione-based polymer solar cells

Cephas E Small, Song Chen, Jegadesan Subbiah, Chad M Amb, Sai-Wing Tsang, Tzung-Han Lai, John R Reynolds, Franky So

NATURE PHOTONICS | NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP | Published : 2012

Abstract

Inverted polymer bulk heterojunction solar cells have received a great deal of attention because of their compatibility with large-scale roll-to-roll processing. The inverted cell geometry has the following structure: substrate (rigid or flexible)/indium tin oxide/electron-transporting layer/photoactive layer/hole-transporting layer/top anode. Solution-processed metal-oxide films, based on materials such as ZnO and TiO2, are typically used as the electron-transporting layers. Here, we demonstrate enhanced charge collection in inverted polymer solar cells using a surface-modified ZnO–polymer nanocomposite electron-transporting layer. Using this approach, we demonstrate inverted polymer solar ..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by Office of Naval Research


Awarded by Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences


Awarded by Air Force Office of Scientific Research


Funding Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge support from the Office of Naval Research (contract no. N000141110245) for the fabrication and characterization of polymer solar cells. F. S. acknowledges support from the Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences (contract no. DE-FG0207ER46464) for the synthesis and characterization of ZnO composite films. J.R.R. acknowledges the support of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (contract no. FA9550-09-1-0320) for the synthesis of the PDTG and PDTS polymers. The authors would also like to thank the Major Analytical Instrumentation Center (MAIC) and the Dr Andrew Rinzler research group at the University of Florida for their assistance in characterizing the ZnO composite films.