Composition and annealing effects in solution-processable functionalized graphene oxide/P3HT based solar cells

• Published in: Synthetic metals Vol. 160; no. 23; pp. 2494 - 2500
• Main Authors: Wang, Jigang, Wang, Yongsheng, He, Dawei, Liu, Zhiyong, Wu, Hongpeng, Wang, Haiteng, Zhao, Yu, Zhang, Hui, Yang, Bingyang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.12.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Annealing; Application fields; Applied sciences; Current density; Devices; Electric potential; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; FT-IR; Graphene; Natural energy; Oxides; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic conversion; Polymer industry, paints, wood; Solar cells; Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells; Solar energy; Technology of polymers; FT-IR; Photovoltaic cells; Performance; Graphene; Short circuit currents; Aromatic polymer; Composition effect; Organic solar cells; Experimental study; Fill factor; Open circuit voltage; Binary mixture; Conjugated polymer; Thiophene derivative polymer; Thermal history; Graphite Oxides; Spin-on coating; Manufacturing; Modified material
• DOI: 10.1016/j.synthmet.2010.09.033
• ISSN: 0379-6779

Characterization of a solution-processable functionalized graphene oxide (SPFGraphene oxide) was investigated by FT-IR spectroscopy and the result of elemental analysis showed that the isocyanate treatment results in the functionalization groups in SPFGraphene oxide. Doping SPFGraphene oxide to P3HT based solar cells induces absorbing spectra more strongly and a great quenching of the photoluminescence of the P3HT. With an increase in the SPFGraphene oxide content, the overall performances of the hybrid devices increases first, reaching the peak efficiency for the 10 wt% SPFGraphene oxide content, and then decreases. After annealing at 160 °C for different time durations, the device containing 10 wt% of SPFGraphene oxide for 10 min shows the best performance with a power conversion efficiency of 1.046%, an open-circuit voltage of 0.73 V, a short-circuit current density of 3.98 mA cm −2 and a fill factor of 0.36 under simulated AM1.5G conditions at 100 mW cm −2; The similar content one for 20 min shows η value of 1.013%, which is lower than the former one to a small extent for longer annealing duration. The graphene has the potential to act as the next-generation material in the photovoltaic devices and other applications for ease of preparation, low price, large surface area, high conductivity and excellent transparency.