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Highly stable Al-doped ZnO by ligand-free synthesis as general thickness-insensitive interlayers for organic solar cells

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Abstract

Highly conductive and dispersible Al-doped ZnO (AZO) nanoparticles (NPs) have been successfully prepared by ligand-free colloidal synthesis at low temperature and stabilization by surfactant-aid including ethanolamine (EA), ethylenediamine (EDA), diethylenetriamine (DETA) and triethylenetetramine (TETA). Due to the strong intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions between AZO NPs and the amino groups from surfactants, the inevitable aggregation was suppressed and the surface defect sites were passivated obviously. The existence of electron transfer from the nitrogen of the amino groups to the zinc of AZO, led to a dramatic increase in electrical conductivity. A homogeneous current intensity value up to ∼2200 pA for AZO tread by DETA was characterized by conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM), which was more superior than that of the reported sol-gel synthesized AZO with the assistance of EA surfactant (refer to 170.7 pA). Furthermore, non-fullerenes solar cells based on PBDB-T:ITIC with AZO-DETA (80 nm) yielded a best device efficiency of 10.7% and kept up prominent PCE exceeding 10% even with more thicker interlayer (95 nm).

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51603099, 51672121) and the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (51425304).

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China

    Yilin Wang, Zhongyou Peng, Shuqin Xiao, Jia Yang, Huanyu Zhou, Liqiang Huang, Licheng Tan & Yiwang Chen

  2. Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of New Energy Chemistry, Institute of Polymers, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China

    Shuqin Xiao, Licheng Tan & Yiwang Chen

  3. Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Lulu Sun & Yinhua Zhou

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  1. Yilin Wang
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  2. Zhongyou Peng
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  4. Jia Yang
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  5. Huanyu Zhou
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  9. Licheng Tan
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  10. Yiwang Chen
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Correspondence to Licheng Tan or Yiwang Chen.

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11426_2017_9131_MOESM1_ESM.doc

Highly Stable Al-Doped ZnO by Ligand-Free Synthesis as General Thickness-insensitive Interlayers for Organic Solar Cells

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Wang, Y., Peng, Z., Xiao, S. et al. Highly stable Al-doped ZnO by ligand-free synthesis as general thickness-insensitive interlayers for organic solar cells. Sci. China Chem. 61, 127–134 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-017-9131-0

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