Nanocomposite hole-extraction layers for organic solar cells

Abstract

The influence of nanocomposite hole-extraction layers on the performance of organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells based on blends of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C-61-buytyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) has been investigated. The hole-extraction layers consist of poly(3,4,-ethylene dioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonic acid (PEDOT:PSS) doped with different concentrations of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Compared with a pristine device (i.e., without MWCNTs), the MWCNTs-doped OPV cells shows an improved short-circuit current density, fill factor, and power conversion efficiency from 8.82 to 9.03mA/cm2, 0.43 to 0.474, and 2.12 to 2.39 (i.e., by about 13), respectively. Reasons for the improved performance of the devices are discussed. It shows that the reduction of series resistance of the devices might be correlated with the improvement of the OPV cells, performance achieved through the incorporation of MWCNTs into the hole-extraction layer of PEDOT:PSS. Copyright 2011 Jiao Li et al.