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Performance and stability studies of inverted polymer solar cells with TiO2 film as a buffer layer

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Abstract

TiO2 based inverted polymer solar cells (PSCs) with a structure of fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)/TiO2/P3HT:PCBM/PEDOT:PSS/Ag presented excellent air stabilities,; the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of devices exhibited only 15 % decay as compared to the highest value while being exposed in air-condition for more than 20 days. Interestingly, an overall enhancement of PCE from 3.5 % to 3.9 % was observed while the PSCs were exposed in air-condition up to 3 days; the improvement of performance was attributed to the TiO2 films’ oxygen and water protection effect and the oxidation of Ag, which will benefit to form an effective work function match with the HOMO of P3HT leading to improved ohmic contact. However, the performance slowly decreased when the exposure time remains longer due to the physical adsorbed oxygen. UV–ozone treatment on the TiO2 films’ leads to the formation of a metal-deficient oxide that results in a decreased PCE for the devices. Finally, X-ray photo-emission spectroscopy (XPS) was used to analyze the compositional changes of the TiO2 films while they were exposed in air-condition or treated by UV–ozone.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21074144), the Fok Ying-Tong Education Foundation (122027), Qianjiang Telent Project, and visiting professorship for Senior International Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ningbo Institute of Material Technology & Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, 315201, P.R. China

    Ruixiang Peng, Feng Yang, Xinhua Ouyang, Ying Liu & Ziyi Ge

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering, Myongji University, Gyeonggi, 449-728, South Korea

    Yong-Sang Kim

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  1. Ruixiang Peng
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  3. Xinhua Ouyang
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Correspondence to Ziyi Ge.

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Peng, R., Yang, F., Ouyang, X. et al. Performance and stability studies of inverted polymer solar cells with TiO2 film as a buffer layer. Appl. Phys. A 114, 429–434 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-013-7626-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-013-7626-2

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