P3HT:PCBM is one of the most studied polymer-fullerene system. However the reported power conversion efficiency (PCE) values falls within the range of 4% to 5%. The thin film architecture in OPVs exhibits low PCE compared to inorganic photovoltaic cells. This is mainly due to the low exciton diffusion length that limits the active layer thickness which in turn reduces the absorption of incident light. Several strategies are adapted in order to increase the absorption in the active layer without increasing the film thickness. Inclusion of metal nanoparticles into the polymer layer of bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells is one of the promising methods. Incorporation of metal nanostructures increases the absorption of organic materials due to the high electromagnetic field strength in the vicinity of the excited surface plasmons. In this work, we used ~ 60 nm Au plasmonic structures to improve the efficiency of organic solar cell. The prepared metal nano structures were characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV-Visible spectroscopy techniques. These prepared metallic nanoparticles can be incorporated either into the electron transport layer (ETL) or into the active P3HT:PC₇₁BM layer. The effect of incorporation of plasmonic gold (Au) nanoparticle in the inverted bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) of P3HT:PC₇₁BM fabricated in ambient air condition is in progress. Initial studies shows an 8.5% enhancement in the PCE with the incorporation of Au nanoparticles under AM1.5G light of intensity 1 Sun.

Date Published: 25 August 2017
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 10363, Organic, Hybrid, and Perovskite Photovoltaics XVIII, 103632K (25 August 2017); doi: 10.1117/12.2273610

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 10363:
Organic, Hybrid, and Perovskite Photovoltaics XVIII
Zakya H. Kafafi; Paul A. Lane; Kwanghee Lee, Editor(s)