From planar-heterojunction to n–i structure: an efficient strategy to improve short-circuit current and power conversion efficiency of aqueous-solution-processed hybrid solar cells

Chen, Zhaolai; Zhang, Hao; Du, Xiaohang; Cheng, Xiao; Chen, Xigao; Jiang, Yingying; Yang, Bai

doi:10.1039/c3ee40481a

Cited by 74 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 43 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…[32][33][34] The cross-sectional SEM image of the device with dip-coated gold NPs electrode is shown in Figure S4 (Supporting Information), which shows sharp boundaries between the adjacent layers. However, the dip-coated gold NPs electrode may be unsuitable for usual polymer/fullerenes system because of the sensitivity to water of the active layer.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dip‐Coated Gold Nanoparticle Electrodes for Aqueous‐Solution‐Processed Large‐Area Solar Cells

Chen

et al. 2014

Advanced Energy Materials

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

gold NPs monolayer was introduced on the interface between the water and n-hexane and then dip-coating technique was adopted to generate a large area gold NPs fi lm ( Scheme 1 ). Fabricating a 2D gold fi lm by this water/oil method was proposed in past work. [ 24,25 ] However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the fi rst time to investigate it as an electrode for solar cells. It is worth noting that when 15 nm and 35 nm gold NPs were used to generate the multilayer gold fi lms, thermal treatment was required to avoid the dissolution of gold fi lm by subsequent dip-coating process. Nevertheless, in the case of 60nm gold NPs, stewing the fi lm in air for a while was enough for the next layer dip-coating. We attribute this phenomenon to the different solubility of gold NPs with varying size. Relatively, the smaller NPs have more citrate ions capped than the bigger NPs and possess better solubility. Upon annealing, the gold NPs fi lm would experience processes of melting, interparticle coalescence and dewetting, [ 26 ] thus making it more hydrophobic. As for the 60 nm gold NPs, with less citrate ions capping, lower solubility and larger size made the fi lm difficult to dissolve in water after stewing in the air for a while.The electric resistance of gold fi lms with different NP sizes and different dip-coated layers (1, 2, 3, and 4) was investigated previously. Figure 1 shows the electric resistance of the gold NPs fi lms measured by the four-point probe meter. Detailed information is shown in Table 1 . The electric resistance decreases dramatically when the layer number of gold fi lms increases. In the case of the 60 nm gold NPs, the electric resistance values are 897 Ω/ٗ, 4.5 Ω/ٗ, 2 Ω/ٗ and 1.3 Ω/ٗ respectively for 1 to 4 layers. To illustrate this relationship, TEM and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characterizations ( Figure 2 ) are conducted. For one layer, the gold nanoparticles are assembled incompactly with inhomogeneously interparticle distances, which are adverse for electron transfer. Due to the inhomogeneous arrangement of NPs in the monolayer, the R s values show slight fl uctuation when different positions of the fi lms are measured. As more layers are dip-coated, the interparticle distances become much smaller, which is in accordance with the decrease in R s . Moreover, the R s values measured in different positions of the fi lms become more stable. The gold fi lms with three layers and four layers show similar R s values, both of which are very small. As shown

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dip‐Coated Gold Nanoparticle Electrodes for Aqueous‐Solution‐Processed Large‐Area Solar Cells

Chen

et al. 2014

Advanced Energy Materials

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although the measured carrier mobility is much lower than subsistent mobility of bulk CdTe and CdS, it is higher than carrier mobility of usual bulk heterojunction solar cells, such as polymer/NCs system. [ 44 ] In light of above-mentioned discussions, effi cient charge separation and transport pathways are achieved in the CdTeCdS NCs fi lm. In terms of one CdTe-CdS nanocrystal, it is quasi type II core/shell heterostructure nanocrystal with chageseparation property; in terms of the assembly of CdTe-CdS NCs, it is nanoscale CdTe-CdS bulk heterojunction with bicontinuous pathways.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

In Situ Construction of Nanoscale CdTe‐CdS Bulk Heterojunctions for Inorganic Nanocrystal Solar Cells

Chen

Zhang

Zeng

et al. 2014

Advanced Energy Materials

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…19 In situ synthesis of lead sulfide (PbS) nanoparticles/polymer composite nanofibers combining the use of γ-irradiation and gas/solid reaction and the cross-linked nanoparticles/polymer composite thin films through surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization and gas/solid reaction had been studied by Yang et al 20,21 Although it is a novel strategy to control the assembly and morphology of QDs effectively in conjugated polymer matrix, maybe there is still remaining challenge to arrange and self-assemble QDs on nanoscales in defined location. 22 Direct QDs assembly approach has been demonstrated for rod−coil conjugated diblock copolymers, and there is considerable interest in the coassembly of polythiophenebased rod−coil copolymers with nanocrystals. 17,23 However, the insulating characteristic of coil block limits the application of rod−coil diblock copolymer in electronic and photovoltaic devices.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conducting rod−rod block copolymers exhibit excellent flexibility for tuning the band gap of semiconductor polymers and controlled nanomorphology, because they were consisted of two or more different chemical covalently connected segments, which could self-assemble to produce well-defined structure on molecular scale, such one-dimensional nanostructure with high aspect ratios. 22,24 In addition, the morphologies and properties of the amphiphilic rod−rod diblock copolymer in a highly controlled mode, could be manipulated by altering the solvent composition. While, there have been few reports 15 involving the assembly of QDs in defined location driven by conjugated rod− rod block copolymers.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In Situ Fabricating One-Dimensional Donor–Acceptor Core–Shell Hybrid Nanobeams Network Driven by Self-Assembly of Diblock Copolythiophenes

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In situ growth of cadmium sulfide (CdS) quantum dots (QDs) was achieved directly through solvent-assisted grafting in the self-assembled templates of amphiphilic all conjugated diblock copolythiophene, poly(3-hexylthiophene)-b-poly(3-(2-(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy)ethoxy)methylthiophene) (P3HT-b-P3TEGT) and gas−solid reaction. Such diblock polymer templates allowed a desired amount of cadmium sulfide salt (Cd(Ac) 2 ) to easily accomplish dispersion and self-assembly via controlled assembling block copolymers in selective solvents. After P3HT-b-P3TEGT polymer templates grafted with Cd 2+ precursor (P3HT-b-P3TEGT/Cd 2+ ) reacting in hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) gas, one-dimensional core−shell nanobeams network P3HT-b-P3TEG/CdS (donor−acceptor) was formed with excellent phase separation between P3HT-b-P3TEGT crystalline domains and inorganic CdS QDs domains at nanoscales, which was driven by the interaction between oxygen atoms of ethylene oxide side chains and Cd 2+ ions, and the thermodynamic equilibrium between polymer chains deformation. The one-dimensional wire-like nanostructure were highly desirable for the active layers in photovoltaic devices as providing high carrier mobility, large interfacial area between electron donor and acceptor, and highly efficient transport pathways to improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of hybrid bulk heterojunction solar cells.

show abstract

From planar-heterojunction to n–i structure: an efficient strategy to improve short-circuit current and power conversion efficiency of aqueous-solution-processed hybrid solar cells

Cited by 74 publications

References 43 publications

Dip‐Coated Gold Nanoparticle Electrodes for Aqueous‐Solution‐Processed Large‐Area Solar Cells

Dip‐Coated Gold Nanoparticle Electrodes for Aqueous‐Solution‐Processed Large‐Area Solar Cells

In Situ Construction of Nanoscale CdTe‐CdS Bulk Heterojunctions for Inorganic Nanocrystal Solar Cells

In Situ Fabricating One-Dimensional Donor–Acceptor Core–Shell Hybrid Nanobeams Network Driven by Self-Assembly of Diblock Copolythiophenes

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About