Long-lasting flexible organic solar cells stored and tested entirely in air

Abstract

We report on improved stability of poly(3-hexylthiopene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester bulk heterojunction solar cells using an indium tin oxide (ITO) anode and an indium metal cathode. Except for the ITO anode the devices are fabricated, stored, and tested entirely in air without encapsulation, exhibiting less than 10% loss in power conversion efficiency after 200 days. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows that this improvement in ambient stability is correlated with the diffusion of indium from the cathode into the active polymer. The In oxidizes presumably resulting in a reduction in P3HT polymer chain degradation.

Spatially‐Resolved In‐Situ Structural Study of Organic Electronic Devices with Nanoscale Resolution: The Plasmonic Photovoltaic Case Study

“…This is in contrast to the respective Au and Al peaks that did not change within the experimental error. Such broadening may be attributed to In interdiffusion from the ITO into the PEDOT:PSS layer, in agreement with previous reports21–23 It can be concluded that In diffusion takes places within ≈15 nm from the ITO/PEDOT:PSS interface.…”

Revealing the diffusion of aluminum in organic solar cells

“…O rganic photovoltaics (OPV) devices have shown great promise for fulfilling some of today's global energy needs. With improvements in their efficiency, mainly through the development of new electron donor/acceptor materials [1][2][3][4][5][6] and improved stability, [7][8][9] these polymer-based solar cells have the additional advantages of being an environmentally green synthesis, lower manufacturing costs, and increased mechanical flexibility when compared to traditional Si-based solar cells. [10][11][12][13] In a past few years, a majority of the OPV devices has utilized bulk hetero-junctions (BHJ's) consisting of two different organic semiconducting materials, one with a strong affinity for electrons, and the other for holes.…”