Highly efficient aqueous-processed polymer/nanocrystal hybrid solar cells with an aqueous-processed TiO electron extraction layer

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Materials for energy and sustainability, 2016-07, Vol.4 (3), p.11738-11746
• Main Authors: Zhao, Yue, Zeng, Qingsen, Liu, Xu, Jiao, Shihui, Pang, Guangsheng, Du, Xiaohang, Zhang, Kai, Yang, Bai
• Format: Article
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/c6ta03585j

In this work, a novel environmentally friendly approach to deposit TiO 2 films via an aqueous process is developed. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurement indicates that water-dispersed TiO 2 nanocrystals (NCs) show excellent film-forming properties on an ITO-coated glass substrate. In addition, the femtosecond transient absorption (TA) and conductivity measurements suggest that the aqueous-processed TiO 2 film shows excellent electron extraction ability and good conductivity. The aqueous-processed polymer/NC hybrid solar cells based on the aqueous-processed TiO 2 electron extraction layer present superior photovoltaic performance and a PCE of 5.53% is achieved, which is the highest for hybrid solar cells fabricated via an aqueous process. Finally, the solar cells with the aqueous-processed TiO 2 electron extraction layer exhibit better humidity resistance compared to the TiO 2 film deposited via a sol-gel method. A PCE of 5.53% is obtained for the aqueous-processed polymer/nanocrystal hybrid solar cells based on the aqueous-processed TiO 2 electron extraction layer.