Abstract
The three essential requirements for increasing the power conversion efficiency of organic photovoltaics include a thick active layer for sufficient photon absorption, a lot of interfaces between donor and acceptor materials for efficient exciton separation, and a thin, high-mobility material for enhanced electronhole transport. We propose the embedding of non-absorbing nanoparticles into organic photovoltaics for photon scattering as a way to meet the challenge of satisfying all three requirements simultaneously. We applied this concept to P3HT/PCBM bilayer cells containing ZnO nanoparticles and demonstrated an increase in power conversion efficiency. We chose a bilayer structure because it is simple enough to isolate the effects of photon scattering. Photon absorption was enhanced, leading to an increase in the short circuit current density. We applied this method to bulk heterojunction solar cells and demonstrated that thickness of the active layer could be reduced by half without sacrificing power conversion efficiency.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1835-1839 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells |
| Volume | 94 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2010 Oct |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the New and Renewable Energy Center, Korea Energy Management Corporation ( 2008NPV08P0600002008 ) and the Priority Research Centers Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology ( 2009-0093823 ).
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films
