Solution-Processed Tungsten Oxide as an Effective Anode Buffer Layer for High-Performance Polymer Solar Cells

WO3 is an effective anode buffer layer to substitute PEDOT:PSS in both organic light-emitting diodes and polymer solar cells (PSCs). However, the vacuum deposition of the WO3 layer is not compatible with low-cost solution-processing technology for the roll-to-roll fabrication of PSCs. Here, we repor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physical chemistry. C 2012-09, Vol.116 (35), p.18626-18632
Main Authors: Tan, Zhan’ao, Li, Liangjie, Cui, Chaohua, Ding, Yuqin, Xu, Qi, Li, Shusheng, Qian, Deping, Li, Yongfang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Electronics
Energy
Exact sciences and technology
Materials
Molecular electronics, nanoelectronics
Natural energy
Optoelectronic devices
Photovoltaic conversion
Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices
Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells
Solar energy
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Summary:WO3 is an effective anode buffer layer to substitute PEDOT:PSS in both organic light-emitting diodes and polymer solar cells (PSCs). However, the vacuum deposition of the WO3 layer is not compatible with low-cost solution-processing technology for the roll-to-roll fabrication of PSCs. Here, we report, for the first time, a solution-processed WO3 (s-WO3) anode buffer layer that was prepared by spin-coating tungsten(VI) isopropoxide solution on an ITO electrode and then thermal annealing at 150 °C for 10 min in air, for the application in PSCs. The s-WO3 layer shows a high hole mobility of 9.4 × 10–3 cm2/V·s and high light transmittance. The photovoltaic performance of the buffer layer was investigated by fabricating the PSCs based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as a donor and (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC60BM), (6,6)-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC70BM), indene-C60 bisadduct (IC60BA), or indene-C70 bisadduct (IC70BA) as an acceptor. The PSCs with the s-WO3 anode buffer layer show enhanced photovoltaic performance in comparison with the devices with PEDOT:PSS as the anode buffer layer. The power conversion efficiency of the PSC based on P3HT/IC70BA with the s-WO3 anode buffer layer reached 6.36% under the illumination of AM 1.5G, 100 mW/cm2. The results indicate that s-WO3 is a promising solution-processable anode buffer layer material for high-efficiency PSCs and for the fabrication of flexible PSCs.
ISSN:1932-7447
1932-7455
DOI:10.1021/jp304878u