Polymer Solar Cells: Polymer Solar Cells with Efficiency >10% Enabled via a Facile Solution‐Processed Al‐Doped ZnO Electron Transporting Layer (Adv. Energy Mater. 12/2015)

Abstract

In article number 1500204, Aram Amassian and co‐workers demonstrate the preparation of highly efficient polymer solar cells on rigid glass and flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates using a facile and low‐temperature solution processed Al:ZnO (AZO) nanocrystalline buffer layer prepared in a single step, without requiring any surface passivation. Efficiencies of 10.2% and 8.2% are reported for glass and plastic substrates, respectively.

Enhanced Ultraviolet Stability of Air-Processed Polymer Solar Cells by Al Doping of the ZnO Interlayer

“…Among them, aluminum-doped ZnO (AZO) is one of the most studied materials for OPV applications . As AZO can be produced in the form of nanoparticles, it has the same advantages of undoped ZnO NPs in terms of layer processing, while having a conductivity which can be three orders of magnitude higher. , AZO is therefore introduced to facilitate the use of ZnO-based materials in industrial processes like roll-to-roll coating.…”

Synergies and compromises between charge and energy transfers in three-component organic solar cells

“…However, when OSCs are realized on a plastic substrate instead of glass, PCE values further decrease due to the higher surface resistivity of the electrode on the substrate and the lower light transparency of the plastic. [6][7][8][9] Thanks to the much higher performance obtained, most of the literature was dedicated to OSCs with bulk heterojunction (BHJ) architectures, while contributions for the development of planar heterojunction (PHJ) solar cells are scarce. From the process point of view, realizing a PHJ device would allow easier scalability to large area manufacturing since of a better morphological and structural control than BHJ, which need the appropriate organization of donor and acceptor materials during the spin-coating or the post-production process.…”

Delicate Energy-Level Adjustment and Interfacial Defect Passivation of ZnO Electron Transport Layers in Organic Solar Cells by Constructing ZnO/In Nanojunctions

“…The state-of-the-art single-junction polymer solar cells (PSCs) have been reported to reach 10–13% power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) because of integrative innovations on the delicate material design and diverse device engineering. − However, despite tremendous efforts, compared with the head start afforded by silicon material, these PSCs still have more room for improvement. − When it comes to a typical PSC, the organic absorber is sandwiched between a hole transport layer (HTL) and an electron transport layer (ETL). Suitable charge transport layers behave as the bridge between the active layer and electrodes which can provide valid pathways for charge transport and minimize the recombination losses, thereby improving the PCEs. − So far, greater contributions were made to ETL material suitable for inverted devices because of their potentially higher efficiencies and storage time. − Among them, n-type metal oxides (n-MOs) can be easily processed via the solution method at relatively low temperatures and they demonstrate much higher charge mobility and stability. These make them popular choices for the ETL design. − However, it may still be difficult sometimes to encounter problems such as the mismatched energy level alignment and poor contact with adjacent functional layers.…”