Improved light harvesting efficiency of semitransparent organic solar cells enabled by broadband/omnidirectional subwavelength antireflective architectures

We report organic solar cells (OSCs) with subwavelength architectured polydimethylsiloxane (SWA-PDMS) as an antireflective (AR) layer on a glass substrate for not only enhancing the efficiency but also increasing the transparency of the devices. These subwavelength architectures (SWAs) on PDMS layer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Materials for energy and sustainability, 2018, Vol.6 (30), p.14769-14779
Main Authors: Dudem, Bhaskar, Jung, Jae Woong, Yu, Jae Su
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aluminum
Aluminum oxide
Broadband
Efficiency
Energy conversion efficiency
Glass substrates
Hydrophobicity
Optical properties
Organic chemistry
Photovoltaic cells
Polydimethylsiloxane
Silicone resins
Solar cells
Theoretical analysis
Transmittance
Transparency
Wave analysis
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Summary:We report organic solar cells (OSCs) with subwavelength architectured polydimethylsiloxane (SWA-PDMS) as an antireflective (AR) layer on a glass substrate for not only enhancing the efficiency but also increasing the transparency of the devices. These subwavelength architectures (SWAs) on PDMS layers are fabricated using a soft imprint lithography technique via an anodic aluminum oxide mold. The effect of optical characteristics of SWA-PDMS with respect to the period and diameter of SWAs, along with the theoretical analysis using rigorous coupled-wave analysis simulation, is investigated. Consequently, the SWA-PDMS/glass with a period and diameter of 125 nm and 80 nm, respectively, is obtained as the optimal sample, exhibiting the highest average transmittance ( T avg ) of ∼95.2%, which is much higher compared to that of bare glass ( T avg ∼92.08%). By employing the optimal SWA-PDMS on the glass surface of opaque and semitransparent OSCs as an AR layer, their power conversion efficiency is improved from 8.67 to 10.59% and 7.07 to 8.52%, respectively. Additionally, the average visible transmittance (AVT) of the semitransparent OSC is increased from 23.0 to 26.2% with significantly improved color coordinates as the AR layer is employed. Also, the OSCs with SWA-PDMS having a relatively high hydrophobic nature exhibit a stable performance in the ambient environment.
ISSN:2050-7488
2050-7496
DOI:10.1039/C8TA04657C