Abstract
Effect of various concentrations of fabricated cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanoparticles (NPs) in the active layer of different donors and acceptors based hybrid organic bulk heterojunction-BHJ devices were investigated using inverted architecture. The organic active layer comprising different donors P3HT (poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) and PTB7 (Poly[[4,8-bis[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy]benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene-2,6-diyl][3-fluoro-2-[(2-ethylhexyl)carbonyl]thieno[3,4-b] thiophenediyl]][6,6]) and acceptor (phenyl-C-butyric acid methyl ester (PC60BM and PC70BM) materials. The incorporation of NPs in the binary blends of P3HT:PC60BM and PTB7:PC70BM enhanced the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of resulting ternary devices. This increase in PCE is mostly due to decrease in series resistance (Rs) with an optimum amount of Co3O4 in the organic photoactive layer. It was found that the ternary blend has higher absorbance relative to a binary blend of P3HT:PCBM. Addition of NPs in the active materials blend increased film roughness and form interpenetrating network to facilitate charges transportation in the active layer. The higher amount of NPs enhanced agglomerations which caused to break down the BHJ led to decrease the performance of the ternary devices.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdullah MM, Rajab FM, Al-Abbas SM (2014) Structural and optical characterization of Cr2O3 nanostructures: evaluation of its dielectric properties. AIP Adv. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4867012
Ahmad Z, Touati F, Muhammad FF et al (2017) Effect of ambient temperature on the efficiency of the PCPDTBT: pC < inf > 71 </inf > BM BHJ solar cells. Appl Phys A Mater Sci Process 123:3–8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-017-1098-8
Allaedini G, Muhammad A (2013) Study of influential factors in synthesis and characterization of cobalt oxide nanoparticles. J Nanostruct Chem 3:77. https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-8865-3-77
Beek WJE, Wienk MM, Janssen RAJ (2004) Efficient hybrid solar cells from zinc oxide nanoparticles and a conjugated polymer. Adv Mater 16:1009–1013. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.200306659
Bera SR, Saha S (2016) Fabrication of CdTe/Si heterojunction solar cell. Appl Nanosci 6:1037–1042. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-015-0516-5
Bhalla V, Tyagi H (2016) Solar energy harvesting by cobalt oxide nanoparticles, a nanofluid absorption based system. Sustain Energy Technol Assess. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2017.01.011
Chen CC, Chang WH, Yoshimura K et al (2014) An efficient triple-junction polymer solar cell having a power conversion efficiency exceeding 11%. Adv Mater 26:5670–5677. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201402072
Etxebarria I, Guerrero A, Albero J et al (2014) Inverted vs standard PTB7:PC70BM organic photovoltaic devices. The benefit of highly selective and extracting contacts in device performance. Org Electron Phys Mater Appl 15:2756–2762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgel.2014.08.008
Farhadi S, Safabakhsh J, Zaringhadam P (2013) Synthesis, characterization, and investigation of optical and magnetic properties of cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanoparticles. J Nanostruct Chem 3:9. https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-8865-3-69
Feng W, Rangan S, Cao Y et al (2014) Energy level alignment of polythiophene/ZnO hybrid Solar cells. J Mater Chem A 2:7034. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4ta00937a
Fu H, Choi M, Luan W et al (2012) Hybrid solar cells with an inverted structure: nanodots incorporated ternary system. Solid State Electron 69:50–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sse.2011.12.009
Ganesamoorthy R, Sathiyan G, Sakthivel P (2017) Review: fullerene based acceptors for efficient bulk heterojunction organic solar cell applications. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 161:102–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2016.11.024
Gershon T (2011) Metal oxide applications in organic-based photovoltaics. Mater Sci Technol 27:1357–1371. https://doi.org/10.1179/026708311X13081465539809
Gong Z, Karandikar S, Zhang X et al (2010) Composite nanomaterial thin film-based biosensors. Proc IEEE Sens. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSENS.2010.5690979
Greiner MT, Helander MG, Tang W-M et al (2011) Universal energy-level alignment of molecules on metal oxides. Nat Mater 11:76–81. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3159
Ikram M, Murray R, Hussain A et al (2014) Hybrid organic solar cells using both ZnO and PCBM as electron acceptor materials. Mater Sci Eng B 189:64–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mseb.2014.08.005
Ikram M, Ali S, Murray R et al (2015a) Influence of fullerene derivative replacement with TiO2 nanoparticles in organic bulk heterojunction solar cells. Curr Appl Phys 15:48–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cap.2014.10.026
Ikram M, Imran M, Nunzi JM et al (2015b) Replacement of P3HT and PCBM with metal oxides nanoparticles in inverted hybrid organic solar cells. Synth Met 210:268–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.synthmet.2015.10.005
Ikram M, Imran M, Nunzi JM et al (2015c) Efficient and low cost inverted hybrid bulk heterojunction solar cells. J Renew Sustain Energy. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4929603
Ikram M, Imran M, Nunzi JM, Ali S (2015d) Efficient inverted hybrid solar cells using both CuO and P3HT as an electron donor materials. J Mater Sci Mater Electron 26:6478–6483. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-015-3239-1
Ikram M, Murray R, Imran M et al (2016) Enhanced performance of P3HT/(PCBM:ZnO:TiO2) blend based hybrid organic solar cells. Mater Res Bull 75:35–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2015.11.031
Imran M, Ikram M, Dilpazir S et al (2017) Towards efficient and cost-effective inverted hybrid organic solar cells using inorganic semiconductor in the active layer. Appl Nanosci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-017-0618-3
Jotterand SA, Jobin M (2011) Characterization of P3HT:PCBM:CdSe hybrid solar cells. Energy Proc 31:117–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2012.11.173
Kadem B, Hassan A, Cranton W (2016) Efficient P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction organic solar cells; effect of post deposition thermal treatment. J Mater Sci Mater Electron 27:7038–7048. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-016-4661-8
Kim JY, Lee K, Coates NE, Moses D, Nguyen TQ, Dante M, Heeger AJ (2007) Efficient tandem polymer solar cells fabricated by all-solution processing. Science 317(5835):222–225. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1141711
Kozma E, Kotowski D, Catellani M et al (2013) Synthesis and characterization of new electron acceptor perylene diimide molecules for photovoltaic applications. Dye Pigment 99:329–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2013.05.011
Kupfer B, Majhi K, Keller DA et al (2015) Thin film Co3O4/TiO2 heterojunction solar cells. Adv Energy Mater 5:2–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201401007
Lee W, Shin S, Han SH, Cho BW (2008) Manipulating interfaces in a hybrid solar cell by in situ photosensitizer polymerization and sequential hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity control for enhanced conversion efficiency. Appl Phys Lett 92:20–23. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2929368
Liang N, Jiang W, Hou J, Wang Z (2017) New developments in non-fullerene small molecule acceptors for polymer solar cells. Mater Chem Front 1:1291–1303. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6QM00247A
Lim JW, Hwang DK, Lim KY et al (2017) ZnO-morphology-dependent effects on the photovoltaic performance for inverted polymer solar cells. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 169:28–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2017.04.046
Lin J-F, Tu G-Y, Ho C-C et al (2013) Molecular structure effect of pyridine-based surface ligand on the performance of P3HT:TiO2 hybrid solar cell. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 5:1009–1016. https://doi.org/10.1021/am302700c
Lin K, Wang J, Hu Z et al (2017) Novel cross-linked films from epoxy-functionalized conjugated polymer and amine based small molecule for the interface engineering of high-efficiency inverted polymer solar cells. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 168:22–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2017.03.035
Mahmoud KH (2016) Synthesis and spectroscopic investigation of cobalt oxide nanoparticles. Polym Compos 37:101–113. https://doi.org/10.1002/pc.23364
Majhi K, Bertoluzzi L, Keller DA et al (2016) Co3O4 based all-oxide PV: a numerical simulation analyzed combinatorial material science study. J Phys Chem C 120:9053–9060. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b01164
Makhlouf SA, Bakr ZH, Aly KI, Moustafa MS (2013) Structural, electrical and optical properties of Co3O4 nanoparticles. Superlattices Microstruct 64:107–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spmi.2013.09.023
Oh SH, Heo SJ, Yang JS, Kim HJ (2013) Effects of ZnO nanoparticles on P3HT:PCBM organic solar cells with DMF-modulated PEDOT:PSS buffer layers. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 5:11530–11534. https://doi.org/10.1021/am4046475
Salavati-Niasari M, Khansari A (2014) Synthesis and characterization of Co3O4 nanoparticles by a simple method. Comptes Rendus Chim 17:352–358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crci.2013.01.023
Sharma R, Bhalerao S, Gupta D (2016) Effect of incorporation of CdS NPs on performance of PTB7: PCBM organic solar cells. Org Electron Phys Mater Appl 33:274–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgel.2016.03.030
Stylianakis MM, Konios D, Petridis C et al (2017) Ternary solution-processed organic solar cells incorporating 2D materials. 2D Mater. https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1583/aa8440
Tian Y, Zhang X, Geng H-Z et al (2017) Carbon nanotube/polyurethane films with high transparency, low sheet resistance and strong adhesion for antistatic application. RSC Adv 7:53018–53024. https://doi.org/10.1039/C7RA10092B
Wang X, Peng Q, Zhu W, Lei G (2015) High performance of inverted polymer solar cells with cobalt oxide as hole-transporting layer. Semicond Sci Technol 30:55001. https://doi.org/10.1088/0268-1242/30/5/055001
Wanninayake AP, Gunashekar S, Li S et al (2015) Performance enhancement of polymer solar cells using copper oxide nanoparticles. Semicond Sci Technol 30:64004. https://doi.org/10.1088/0268-1242/30/6/064004
Wright M, Uddin A (2012) Organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells: a comparative review. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 107:87–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2012.07.006
Wu J, Yue G, Xiao Y et al (2013) An ultraviolet responsive hybrid solar cell based on titania/poly(3-hexylthiophene). Sci Rep 3:1283. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep01283
Yang P, Zhou X, Cao G, Luscombe CK (2010) P3HT:PCBM polymer solar cells with TiO2 nanotube aggregates in the active layer. J Mater Chem 20:2612. https://doi.org/10.1039/b921758d
Yang S, Hou Y, Xing J et al (2013a) Ultrathin SnO2 scaffolds for TiO2-based heterojunction photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells: oriented charge transport and improved light scattering. Chem A Eur J 19:9366–9370. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201300524
Yang S, Hou Y, Zhang B et al (2013b) Highly efficient overlayer derived from peroxotitanium for dye-sensitized solar cells. J Mater Chem A 1:1374–1379. https://doi.org/10.1039/C2TA00688J
Yoon S, Heo SJ, Kim HJ (2013) Hybrid polymer/inorganic nanoparticle blended ternary solar cells. Phys Status Solidi Rapid Res Lett 7:534–537. https://doi.org/10.1002/pssr.201307157
Yue W, Ashraf RS, Nielsen CB et al (2015) A thieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene isoindigo building block for additive- and annealing-free high-performance polymer solar cells. Adv Mater 27:4702–4707. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201501841
Zhang H, Pokhrel S, Ji Z et al (2014) PdO doping tunes band-gap energy levels as well as oxidative stress responses to a Co3O4 p-type semiconductor in cells and the lung. J Am Chem Soc 136:6406–6420. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja501699e
Zhang J, Zhang Y, Fang J et al (2015) Conjugated polymer-small molecule alloy leads to high efficient ternary organic. Sol Cells. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5b03449
Zhang Y, Bovill E, Kingsley J et al (2016) PCDTBT based solar cells: 1 year of operation under real-world conditions. Sci Rep 6:21632. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep21632
Zhong M, Yang D, Zhang J et al (2012) Improving the performance of CdS/P3HT hybrid inverted solar cells by interfacial modification. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 96:160–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2011.09.041
Zhou N, Lin H, Lou SJ et al (2014) Morphology-performance relationships in high-efficiency all-polymer solar cells. Adv Energy Mater. https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201300785
Acknowledgements
The authors thankful to higher education commission (HEC), Pakistan for financial support through PAK-US joint Project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors confirm that this manuscript has no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yousaf, S.A., Ikram, M. & Ali, S. Significantly improved efficiency of organic solar cells incorporating Co3O4 NPs in the active layer. Appl Nanosci 8, 489–497 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-018-0726-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-018-0726-8