Realizing 18.03% efficiency and good junction characteristics in organic solar cells hydrogen-bonding interaction between glucose and ZnO electron transport layers

Electron transport layers (ETLs) with excellent electron extraction capability are essential for realizing high efficiency in organic solar cells (OSCs). A sol-gel-processed ZnO ETL is widely used in OSCs due to its high mobility and suitable work function. However, the existence of defects usually...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Materials for energy and sustainability, 2023-01, Vol.11 (4), p.181-1816
Main Authors: Wang, Zhongqiang, Ren, Yabing, Meng, Jiawei, Zou, Xuefeng, Wang, Shenjian, Zhao, Min, Wang, Hua, Hao, Yuying, Xu, Bingshe, Wang, Ergang, Yin, Shougen
Format: Article
Language:
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Electron transport layers (ETLs) with excellent electron extraction capability are essential for realizing high efficiency in organic solar cells (OSCs). A sol-gel-processed ZnO ETL is widely used in OSCs due to its high mobility and suitable work function. However, the existence of defects usually results in low photovoltaic performance during the operation of OSCs. In this work, glucose (Gl) was used to passivate free OH traps via hydrogen-bonding interaction and formed ZnO/Gl ETLs with ZnO, which exhibited improved electron extraction capability and reduced trap defect density. Thus, a champion efficiency of 18.03% was obtained in a PM6:Y6 light absorber-based cell, which is >11% higher than that of the reference cell (16.15%) with a pristine ZnO ETL. Impressive enhancements by >11% were also observed in different fullerene and non-fullerene light absorber-based cells relative to that of the reference cell. This study demonstrates a new strategy to design ETLs for realizing high efficiency in OSCs. The defects of OH in ZnO electron transport layer (ETL) processed by sol-gel was passivated by glucose (Gl). An improved PCE of 18.03% is obtained in PM6:Y6-based cell. The ZnO/Gl ETL shows generic improvement for other blend system based cells.
ISSN:2050-7488
2050-7496
DOI:10.1039/d2ta07856b