Reduced interface energy loss in non-fullerene organic solar cells using room temperature-synthesized SnO2 quantum dots

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2020.02.054

Abstract

Abstract:

We herein report the room temperature synthesis of colloidal SnO₂ quantum dots and their application in non-fullerene organic solar cells as an excellent electron transport layer. The thiourea-assisted hydrolysis at room temperature affords the nanocrystalline SnO₂ quantum dots with a diameter of 3-4 nm. The utilization of the SnO₂ quantum dots as an electron transporting layer effectively reduces the interfacial trap density and charge recombination in the solar cell devices, leading to not only the reduced energy loss but also excellent photocurrent generation. The optimized organic solar cells employing SnO₂ quantum dots with polyethylenimine ethoxylated achieves power conversion efficiencies up to 12.023 % with a V_OC, a J_SC, and a FF of 0.89 V, 18.89 mA cm ^-2, and 0.72. This work suggest that the SnO₂ quantum dot is a promising electron transporting material to construct efficient organic solar cells for practical applications. This work also demonstrates the key strategy for thiourea-assisted hydrolysis to synthesize fine and nanocrystalline SnO₂ quantum dots.

Key words: Energy loss, Organic solar cells, Interface, SnO₂, Quantum dots

InSu Jin, Minwoo Park, Jae Woong Jung. Reduced interface energy loss in non-fullerene organic solar cells using room temperature-synthesized SnO₂ quantum dots[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 52: 12-19.

Figures/Tables 8

Fig. 1. Optical properties (absorption and transmittance spectra) of SnO2 quantum dots in solution and thin film (a), and X-ray diffractogram of SnO2 quantum dot film (b). Inset: (a) TEM image, (b) XPS graph for SnO2 quantum dots.

Fig. 2. AFM images for bare ITO (a), SnO2 quantum dot-coated ITO (b), and photoactive layer coated on SnO2 quantum dot thin film.

Fig. 3. High binding energy cut off (a) and valence region (b) of UPS spectra of SnO2 quantum dot thin film on ITO substrate. (c) Energy level diagram for ITO/SnO2/photoactive layer.

Fig. 4. Cross-sectional SEM image (a), J - V curves for the devices under 1 sun illumination (100 mW cm-2), corresponding EQE spectra, and distribution of PCEs for the devices with different ETLs.

Table 1 Device parameters of organic solar cells utilizing different ETLs.

ETL	V_OC (V)	J_SC (mA cm^-2)	FF	PCE (%)	J_SC* (mA cm^-2)	E_loss (eV)	V_TFL (V)
N/A	0.61	14.82	0.55	5.02	14.61	0.937	0.046
SnO₂	0.82	18.36	0.71	10.64	18.28	0.735	0.040
SnO₂/PEIE	0.89	18.89	0.72	12.02	18.36	0.661	0.036

Fig. 5. JD-V curves of the single carrier devices (ITO/ETL/active layer/BCP/Ag) with no ETL (a), SnO2 quantum dot (b) PEIE/SnO2 quantum dot.

Fig. 6. Jph-Veff curves (a) and transient photovoltage decay curves (b) for the devices with different ETLs. Inset: Time-resolved PL decay curves for the devices with different ETLs.

Fig. 7. PCE decays of the devices with different ETLs under continuous illumination (1 sun) in ambient (a) and N2 atmosphere (b). The applied biases were 0.4 V, 0.66 V, and 0.74 V for the devices with no ETL, SnO2, and SnO2/PEIE, respectively, which are the maximum power point obtained from J - V curves.

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Reduced interface energy loss in non-fullerene organic solar cells using room temperature-synthesized SnO₂ quantum dots

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