Trap-Filling of ZnO Buffer Layer for Improved Efficiencies of Organic Solar Cells

Mingguang Li, Jing Li, Longsheng Yu, Ying Zhang, Yizhong Dai, Runfeng Chen, Wei Huang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Trap-assisted recombination loss in the cathode buffer layers (CBLs) is detrimental to the electron extraction process and severely restricts the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of organic solar cells (OSCs). Herein, a novel organic–inorganic hybrid film composed of zinc oxide (ZnO) and 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8, 8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4TCNQ) is designed to fill the intrinsic charge traps of ZnO-based CBLs by doping F4TCNQ for high-performance inverted OSCs. Thus, constructed ZnO:F4TCNQ hybrid film exhibits enhanced surface hydrophobicity and adjustable energy levels, providing favorable interfacial condition for electron extraction process. Consequently, trap-assisted recombination loss in the CBLs was efficiently suppressed, leading to the significantly improved fill factor and PCEs of both fullerene- and non-fullerene-based OSCs using the ZnO:F4TCNQ hybrid CBLs. This work illustrates a convenient organic acceptor doping approach to suppress the internal charge traps of traditional inorganic CBLs, which will shed new light on the fabrication of high-performance CBLs with facile electron extraction processes in inverted OSC devices.

Original languageEnglish
Article number399
JournalFrontiers in Chemistry
Volume8
DOIs
StatePublished - 26 May 2020

Keywords

  • cathode buffer layers
  • organic solar cells
  • organic–inorganic hybrid film
  • trap-filling
  • ZnO

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