High efficiency homojunction tandem organic solar cells with all solution processable interconnect layer

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Switzerland : 1996), 2024-11, Vol.500, p.156887, Article 156887
• Main Authors: Yu, Jiangkai, Hao, Lu, Zhang, Kai, Zheng, Jie, Zhang, Jiabin, Xu, Yao, Dong, Minghao, Xie, Juxuan, Li, Hui, Luo, Xi, Huang, Fei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: All solution processable; Homojunction tandem; Interconnecting layer; Organic solar cells; Power conversion efficiency
• ISSN: 1385-8947
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2024.156887

•A novel all-solution processed interconnecting layer (ICL) based on ZnO NPs:PEI/PEI/PEDOT:PSS/2PACz for tandem solar cells.•The sub-cells were optimized using a multidimensional modulation method to produce homojunction tandem solar cells.•19.9% efficiency is obtained in homojunction tandem organic solar cells, which is currently the highest reported. In the field of organic photovoltaics, the power conversion efficiency of single junction solar cells continues to improve. However, tandem organic solar cells are poised to push the efficiency limits even further and offer a promising avenue for improving the performance of organic photovoltaic devices. This study reports the development of an all-solution processed interconnecting layer (ICL) based on ZnO NPs:PEI/PEI/PEDOT:PSS/2PACz for tandem solar cells. The PM6:BTP-eC9 active layer material was adjusted for its donor-to-acceptor (D/A) ratio and film thickness as the front and back sub-cells. The ICL exhibits favorable mechanical, electrical and optical properties. Through multidimensional modulation, the front and rear sub-cells have been optimized to obtain highly efficient homojunction tandem solar cells. The tandem solar cell has a structure of indium tin oxide (ITO)/PEDOT:PSS/2PACz/active layer/ICL/active layer/PNDIT-F3N/Ag. This optimization resulted in a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.9 %, which is the highest reported efficiency for homojunction tandem organic solar cells to date. Our research demonstrates that the PCE of homojunction tandem cells can be significantly improved by careful design of the interconnecting layers and optimization of the donor-to-acceptor (D/A) ratio. This strategy may provide guidance for further improvements in homojunction tandem cells.