Transparent electrode with ZnO nanoparticles in tandem organic solar cells

• Published in: Solar energy materials and solar cells Vol. 95; no. 1; pp. 365 - 368
• Main Authors: Lee, Donggu, Ki Bae, Wan, Park, Insun, Yoon, Do Y., Lee, Seonghoon, Lee, Changhee
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Aluminum; Applied sciences; Buckminsterfullerene; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; Inter-electrode; Materials; Nanoparticles; Natural energy; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic conversion; Solar cells; Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells; Solar energy; Tandem organic solar cell; Unit cell; Volatile organic compounds; Zinc oxide; ZnO nanoparticle; Tandem organic solar cell; ZnO nanoparticle; Inter-electrode; Tandem solar cell; Polymer blends; Organic photovoltaics; Nanoparticle; Electrode material; Organic solar cells; Thiophene derivative polymer; Styrenesulfonate polymer; Zinc oxide; Transparent material
• ISSN: 0927-0248; 1879-3398
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2010.04.020

The transparent inter-electrodes with the p/n heterojunction consisting of the solution-processible ZnO nanoparticles as the n-type and the conventional hole injection layers (MoO 3 or PEDOT:PSS) as the p-type materials are studied for developing tandem organic solar cells employing different band gap active materials (i.e., P3HT:PCBM blend layer for larger band gap material in the bottom cell and ZnPc/C 60 bilayer for smaller band gap material in the top cell). For the ZnO/PEDOT:PSS inter-electrode, the V OC corresponding to the sum of V OC’s of the top and bottom unit cells is obtained, denoting that the two unit cells are successfully connected in series. For the ZnO/MoO 3 inter-electrode, the open-circuit voltage ( V OC) of the tandem cell is smaller than the sum of V OC’s of the top and bottom unit cells, but it can be increased by inserting a very thin Al layer (∼3 nm) between ZnO and MoO 3 (ZnO/Al/MoO 3) as the recombination center for carriers.