Self‐Assembled Quasi‐3D Nanocomposite: A Novel p‐Type Hole Transport Layer for High Performance Inverted Organic Solar Cells

• Published in: Advanced functional materials 2018-04, Vol.28 (15), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Cheng, Jiaqi, Zhang, Hong, Zhao, Yong, Mao, Jian, Li, Can, Zhang, Shaoqing, Wong, Kam Sing, Hou, Jianhui, Choy, Wallace C. H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Energy conversion efficiency; Fullerenes; hole transport layers; Materials science; Nanocomposites; non‐fullerene solar cells; Optoelectronics; organic solar cells; Photovoltaic cells; quasi‐3D nanocomposite; Solar cells; stability; Transport
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201706403

Hole transport layer (HTL) plays a critical role for achieving high performance solution‐processed optoelectronics including organic electronics. For organic solar cells (OSCs), the inverted structure has been widely adopted to achieve prolonged stability. However, there are limited studies of p‐type effective HTL on top of the organic active layer (hereafter named as top HTL) for inverted OSCs. Currently, p‐type top HTLs are mainly 2D materials, which have an intrinsic vertical conduction limitation and are too thin to function as practical HTL for large area optoelectronic applications. In the present study, a novel self‐assembled quasi‐3D nanocomposite is demonstrated as a p‐type top HTL. Remarkably, the novel HTL achieves ≈15 times enhanced conductivity and ≈16 times extended thickness compared to the 2D counterpart. By applying this novel HTL in inverted OSCs covering fullerene and non‐fullerene systems, device performance is significantly improved. The champion power conversion efficiency reaches 12.13%, which is the highest reported performance of solution processed HTL based inverted OSCs. Furthermore, the stability of OSCs is dramatically enhanced compared with conventional devices. The work contributes to not only evolving the highly stable and large scale OSCs for practical applications but also diversifying the strategies to improve device performance. A novel self‐assembled quasi‐3D nanocomposite is demonstrated to be an effective top hole transport layer (HTL) for both fullerene and non‐fullerene inverted organic solar cells. Due to the better conductivity of this nanocomposite HTL, the thickness sensitivity issue of graphene oxide is addressed. Surface recombination is suppressed and the highest power conversion efficiency can reach 12.13%.