A common phenomenon of organic solar cells (OSCs) incorporating metal‐oxide electron extraction layers is the requirement to expose the devices to UV light in order to improve device characteristics – known as the so‐called “light‐soaking” issue. This behaviour appears to be of general validity for various metal‐oxide layers, various organic donor/acceptor systems, and regardless if single junction devices or multi stacked cells are considered. The requirement of UV exposure of OSCs may impose severe problems if substrates with limited UV transmission, UV blocking filters or UV to VIS down‐conversion concepts are applied. In this paper, we will demonstrate that this issue can be overcome by the use of Al doped ZnO (AZO) as electron extraction interlayer. In contrast to devices based on TiOx and ZnO, the AZO devices show well‐behaved solar cell characteristics with a high fill factor (FF) and power conversion efficiency (PCE) even without the UV spectral components of the AM1.5 solar spectrum. As opposed to previous claims, our results indicate that the origin of s‐shaped characteristics of the OSCs is the metal‐oxide/organic interface. The electronic structures of the TiOx/fullerene and AZO/fullerene interfaces are studied by photoelectron spectroscopy, revealing an electron extraction barrier for the TiOx/fullerene case and facilitated electron extraction for AZO/fullerene. These results are of general relevance for organic solar cells based on various donor acceptor active systems.
Semitransparent perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are of interest for application in tandem solar cells and building-integrated photovoltaics. Unfortunately, several perovskites decompose when exposed to moisture or elevated temperatures. Concomitantly, metal electrodes can be degraded by the corrosive decomposition products of the perovskite. This is even the more problematic for semitransparent PSCs, in which the semitransparent top electrode is based on ultrathin metal films. Here, we demonstrate outstandingly robust PSCs with semitransparent top electrodes, where an ultrathin Ag layer is sandwiched between SnO x grown by low-temperature atomic layer deposition. The SnO x forms an electrically conductive permeation barrier, which protects both the perovskite and the ultrathin silver electrode against the detrimental impact of moisture. At the same time, the SnO x cladding layer underneath the ultra-thin Ag layer shields the metal against corrosive halide compounds leaking out of the perovskite. Our semitransparent PSCs show an efficiency higher than 11% along with about 70% average transmittance in the near-infrared region (λ > 800 nm) and an average transmittance of 29% for λ = 400-900 nm. The devices reveal an astonishing stability over more than 4500 hours regardless if they are exposed to ambient atmosphere or to elevated temperatures.
A hybrid approach for the realization of In-free transparent conductive layers based on a composite of a mesh of silver nanowires (NWs) and a conductive metal-oxide is demonstrated. As metal-oxide room-temperature-processed sol-gel SnO x or Al:ZnO prepared by low-temperature (100 ° C) atomic layer deposition is used, respectively. In this concept, the metal-oxide is intended to fuse the wires together and also to "glue" them to the substrate. As a result, a low sheet resistance down to 5.2 Ω sq −1 is achieved with a concomitant average transmission of 87%. The adhesion of the NWs to the substrate is signifi cantly improved and the resulting composites withstand adhesion tests without loss in conductivity. Owing to the low processing temperatures, this concept allows highly robust, highly conductive, and transparent coatings even on top of temperature sensitive objects, for example, polymer foils, organic devices. These Indium-and PEDOT:PSS-free hybrid layers are successfully implemented as transparent top-electrodes in effi cient allsolution-processed semitransparent organic solar cells. It is obvious that this approach is not limited to organic solar cells but will generally be applicable in devices which require transparent electrodes.
Transparent and electrically conductive gas diffusion barriers are reported. Tin oxide (SnOx ) thin films grown by atomic layer deposition afford extremely low water vapor transmission rates (WVTR) on the order of 10(-6) g (m(2) day)(-1) , six orders of magnitude better than that established with ITO layers. The electrical conductivity of SnOx remains high under damp heat conditions (85 °C/85% relative humidity (RH)), while that of ZnO quickly degrades by more than five orders of magnitude.
In organic solar cells (OSCs), the necessity of UV activation that comes with the use of ZnO‐ and TiOx‐based electron extraction layers (EELs) can be avoided by using tin oxide (SnOx), which can be prepared at temperatures as low as 80 °C. In contrast to devices based on TiOx and ZnO, OSCs comprising SnOx as the EEL show well‐behaved solar cell characteristics with a high fill factor (FF) and high efficiency, even without the UV spectral range of the AM1.5 solar spectrum.
low fi ll-factors (FFs) and overall low power conversion efficiency are found. This phenomenon is frequently referred to as "light-soaking" issue. [ 31,32 ] Development of charge extraction materials that do not rely on UV activation has been identifi ed to be of paramount importance to achieve highly effi cient and long-term stable devices. [ 33,34 ] In this sense, doped metaloxide EELs, e.g., Al:ZnO, [ 31,35,36 ] have been shown to mitigate the need for UV activation. While there are several reports of OSCs incorporating ZnO-based EELs in organic solar cells, which show a promising "shelf-life," [ 37 ] photoinduced shunts have been found to occur in the devices upon illumination "in actual operation." [38][39][40] Analogous to the case of the light activation discussed above, these photoinduced shunts are associated with the illumination by UV light (i.e., hν > E g ). As a result, a signifi cantly lowered shunt resistance along with a substantial decay of the FF and V oc is typically found to occur within minutes of illumination. The origin of this photoinduced shunt has been related to the UV-induced desorption of chemisorbed oxygen at the ZnO surface. [ 38 ] Approaches to modify and thereby to stabilize the ZnO surface range from the use of passivating mole cules [ 41 ] to the evaporation of thin aluminum layers onto the ZnO EEL. [ 39 ] Here, we will show that the photoinduced shunting behavior is a general phenomenon in OSCs comprising "neat or electrically doped" ZnO-based electron extraction layers, i.e., Al:ZnO (AZO) or Ga:ZnO (GZO), and it is found regardless if the EEL is prepared from nanoparticle dispersions or by vacuumbased techniques ( Figure 1 ). The photoinduced shunting of ZnO-based OSCs occurs for devices operated in air or under inert atmosphere, and it can therefore not be avoided by using a proper encapsulation. Moreover, we will show that while the photoinduced shunting is reversible in air, it is irreversible under the exclusion of oxygen. Opposed to ZnO-based EELs, we will demonstrate that the photoinduced shunting and the con-
We propose microporous networks (MPNs) of a light emitting spiro-carbazole based polymer (PSpCz) as luminescent sensor for nitro-aromatic compounds. The MPNs used in this study can be easily synthesized on arbitrarily sized/shaped substrates by simple and low-cost electrochemical deposition. The resulting MPN afford an extremely high specific surface area of 1300 m2/g, more than three orders of magnitude higher than that of the thin films of the respective monomer. We demonstrate, that the luminescence of PSpCz is selectively quenched by nitro-aromatic analytes, e.g. nitrobenzene, 2,4-DNT and TNT. In striking contrast to a control sample based on non-porous spiro-carbazole, which does not show any luminescence quenching upon exposure to TNT at levels of 3 ppm and below, the microporous PSpCz shows a clearly detectable response even at TNT concentrations as low as 5 ppb, clearly demonstrating the advantage of microporous films as luminescent sensors for traces of explosive analytes. This level states the vapor pressure of TNT at room temperature.
ZnO and TiOx are commonly used as electron extraction layers (EELs) in organic solar cells (OSCs). A general phenomenon of OSCs incorporating these metal-oxides is the requirement to illuminate the devices with UV light in order to improve device characteristics. This may cause severe problems if UV to VIS down-conversion is applied or if the UV spectral range (λ < 400 nm) is blocked to achieve an improved device lifetime. In this work, silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are used to plasmonically sensitize metal-oxide based EELs in the vicinity (1–20 nm) of the metal-oxide/organic interface. We evidence that plasmonically sensitized metal-oxide layers facilitate electron extraction and afford well-behaved highly efficient OSCs, even without the typical requirement of UV exposure. It is shown that in the plasmonically sensitized metal-oxides the illumination with visible light lowers the WF due to desorption of previously ionosorbed oxygen, in analogy to the process found in neat metal oxides upon UV exposure, only. As underlying mechanism the transfer of hot holes from the metal to the oxide upon illumination with hν < Eg is verified. The general applicability of this concept to most common metal-oxides (e.g. TiOx and ZnO) in combination with different photoactive organic materials is demonstrated.
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