Fabrication of oriented ZnO nanopillar self-assemblies and their application for photovoltaic devices

Abstract

Organic photovoltaic devices based on a blend of poly(3-hexylthiophene) and a fullerene have been studied by inserting oriented zinc oxide nanopillars which were fabricated by a new method at low temperature (343 K). The dependence of the photovoltaic performance on the zinc oxide morphology was investigated, and it is concluded that the oriented zinc oxide nanopillar array plays an important role in collecting photogenerated electrons and acts as a conducting path to the electrode. Insertion of the oriented zinc oxide nanopillars in the photovoltaic cells produced enhanced performance with a power conversion efficiency of 1.22% under AM1.5 illumination.

Microstructured porous ZnO thin film for increased light scattering and improved efficiency in inverted organic photovoltaics

“…In comparison with uniform featureless layers, nanostructured metal oxides can enhance the device performance in three ways: increasing the interfacial area between the metal oxide and the active layer, providing better charge collection and stronger light trapping for enhanced optical absorption [17,18]. These have been demonstrated and well documented using ZnO nanopillar and nanorod structures in inverted OPVs [15,17,19,20].…”

“…These have been demonstrated and well documented using ZnO nanopillar and nanorod structures in inverted OPVs [15,17,19,20]. ZnO nanopillar and nanorod structure fabrication usually needs a high-temperature and elaborative processing.…”

Fabrication of organic photovoltaic cells with double-layer ZnO structure

“…Zinc oxide (ZnO) is an attractive material for nanorod formation, suitable for application in such hybrid photovoltaic devices [16][17][18][19][20]. The methods they used to prepare ZnO nanopillars need high processing temperature.…”

Application of metal oxide microstructures in organic photovoltaics

“…The key component of organic photovoltaics is the conjugated polymers, which form the active layers of these devices [100]. The polymers can generate charge carriers and the delocalized π-bonds can transport these charge carriers.…”

“…In earlier studies these metal oxides needed high vacuum environment for thermal deposition, which is not only more expensive than solution processing but also incompatible with large-area processing [103]. The ZnO nanopillars in BHJ OPV are efficient sites of electron collection and provide highly directed conducting pathway to the electrode [100]. This leads to better device performance with an efficiency of 1.22% ( Fig.…”