Fullerene (PCBM) Modulated MEH-PPV Photoactive Material for Plastic Solar Cells

Abstract.Plastic solar cells are promising devices in looking for low cost and flexible energy storing devices. Low efficiency is the main drawback of these cells in comparison with inorganic solar cells and hence the search for an efficient plastic solar cell has become a globally demanded research problem. In the present work we have used the modified fullerene [6,6]-Phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as N type modulating probe on P type semiconducting polymer Poly[2-methoxy-5-(2’-ethylhexyloxy)-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV). The donor MEH-PPV polymer matrix is modulated by adding PCBM in the weight ratio 1:3, 1:1 and 3:1 in Chloro-Benzene(CB) as the common solvent and glass-coated samples are prepared by solution cast method. Samples are analyzed by UV-VISIBLE spectroscopy by JASCO UV Vis NIR V 670 spectrometer. The effect of PCBM content on MEH-PPV is to broaden the spectral response of MEH-PPV. In other words the acceptor PCBM has tuned the band gap (energy difference between HOMO & LUMO) of the donor MEH-PPV. Spectral analysis revealed that 1:3 blend of MEH-PPV with PCBM has a wide spectral sensitivity for absorption. The band gap for each blend is determined using Tauc’s plot. Increased Fullerene content has decreased the band gap of the host polymer. We conclude that modified fullerene can effectively modulate the donor polymer matrix and 1:3 MEH-PPV: PCBM can act as a good photoactive material for solar cells. Absorption can be further enhanced by either dye sensitization or by metal oxide nanoparticle doping without increasing the thickness of the film. We have doped the optimized 1:3 blend with 20%, 40% & 60% of TiO2 nanoparticles wherein the absorption is enhanced with doping level. The increased absorption is attributed to the photocatalytic activity of the nanaoparticles embedded in the polymer matrix

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Molecular Engineering Enhances the Charge Carriers Transport in Wide Band-Gap Polymer Donors Based Polymer Solar Cells

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules25184101 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (18) ◽

pp. 4101

Author(s):

Siyang Liu ◽

Shuwang Yi ◽

Peiling Qing ◽

Weijun Li ◽

Bin Gu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Band Gap ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Polymer Solar Cells ◽

Acid Methyl Ester ◽

Wide Band ◽

Molecular Engineering ◽

Wide Band Gap ◽

Photovoltaic Properties ◽

Solvent Vapor

The novel and appropriate molecular design for polymer donors are playing an important role in realizing high-efficiency and high stable polymer solar cells (PSCs). In this work, four conjugated polymers (PIDT-O, PIDTT-O, PIDT-S and PIDTT-S) with indacenodithiophene (IDT) and indacenodithieno [3,2-b]thiophene (IDTT) as the donor units, and alkoxy-substituted benzoxadiazole and benzothiadiazole derivatives as the acceptor units have been designed and synthesized. Taking advantages of the molecular engineering on polymer backbones, these four polymers showed differently photophysical and photovoltaic properties. They exhibited wide optical bandgaps of 1.88, 1.87, 1.89 and 1.91 eV and quite impressive hole mobilities of 6.01 × 10−4, 7.72 × 10−4, 1.83 × 10−3, and 1.29 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1 for PIDT-O, PIDTT-O, PIDT-S and PIDTT-S, respectively. Through the photovoltaic test via using PIDT-O, PIDTT-O, PIDT-S and PIDTT-S as donor materials and [6,6]-phenyl-C-71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) as acceptor materials, all the PSCs presented the high open circuit voltages (Vocs) over 0.85 V, whereas the PIDT-S and PIDTT-S based devices showed higher power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 5.09% and 4.43%, respectively. Interestingly, the solvent vapor annealing (SVA) treatment on active layers could improve the fill factors (FFs) extensively for these four polymers. For PIDT-S and PIDTT-S, the SVA process improved the FFs exceeding 71%, and ultimately the PCEs were increased to 6.05%, and 6.12%, respectively. Therefore, this kind of wide band-gap polymers are potentially candidates as efficient electron-donating materials for constructing high-performance PSCs.

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Cd-Free Zn(O,S) as Alternative Buffer Layer for Chalcogenide and Kesterite Based Thin Films Solar Cells: A Review

Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology ◽

10.1166/jnn.2020.17537 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (6) ◽

pp. 3622-3635 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Kuldeep S. Gour ◽

Rahul Parmar ◽

Rahul Kumar ◽

Vidya N. Singh

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Band Gap ◽

Buffer Layer ◽

Low Cost ◽

Incident Light ◽

High Resistivity ◽

Short Wavelength Range ◽

Absorber Material

Cd is categorized as a toxic material with restricted use in electronics as there are inherent problems of treating waste and convincing consumers that it is properly sealed inside without any threat of precarious leaks. Apart from toxicity, band-gap of CdS is about 2.40–2.50 eV, which results significant photon loss in short-wavelength range which restricts the overall performance of solar cells. Thin film of Zn(O,S) is a favorable contender to substitute CdS thin film as buffer layer for CuInGaSe2 (CIGS), CuInGa(S,Se)2 (CIGSSe), Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe), Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin film absorber material based photovoltaic due to it made from earth abundant, low cost, non-toxic materials and its ability to improve the efficiency of chalcogenide and kesterite based photovoltaic due to wider band-gap which results in reduction of absorption loss compared to CdS. In this review, apart from mentioning various deposition technique for Zn(O,S) thin films, changes in various properties i.e., optical, morphological, and opto-electrical properties of Zn(O,S) thin film deposited using various methods utilized for fabricating solar cell based on CIGS, CIGSSe, CZTS, CZTSe and CZTSSe thin films, the material has been evaluated for all the properties of buffer layer (high transparency for incident light, good conduction band lineup with absorber material, low interface recombination, high resistivity and good device stability).

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Theoretical Design of D−π–A–A Sensitizers with Narrow Band Gap and Broad Spectral Response Based on Boron Dipyrromethene for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling ◽

10.1021/acs.jcim.9b00187 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 59 (5) ◽

pp. 2248-2256 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Haizhen Liu ◽

Liping Liu ◽

Yan Fu ◽

Erbao Liu ◽

Bingchun Xue

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Band Gap ◽

Narrow Band ◽

Spectral Response ◽

Dye Sensitized Solar Cells ◽

Dye Sensitized ◽

Theoretical Design ◽

Boron Dipyrromethene ◽

Sensitized Solar Cells

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Effects of Sulfurization Temperature on Properties of CZTS Films by Vacuum Evaporation and Sulfurization Method

International Journal of Photoenergy ◽

10.1155/2013/986076 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2013 ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jie Zhang ◽

Bo Long ◽

Shuying Cheng ◽

Weibo Zhang

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Band Gap ◽

Crystallite Size ◽

Low Cost ◽

Band Gap Energy ◽

Vacuum Evaporation ◽

Glass Substrates ◽

Sulfurization Temperature ◽

Czts Thin Films

Copper zinc tin sulfur (CZTS) thin films have been extensively studied in recent years for their advantages of low cost, high absorption coefficient (≥104 cm−1), appropriate band gap (~1.5 eV), and nontoxicity. CZTS thin films are promising materials of solar cells like copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS). In this work, CZTS thin films were prepared on glass substrates by vacuum evaporation and sulfurization method. Sn/Cu/ZnS (CZT) precursors were deposited by thermal evaporation and then sulfurized in N2+ H2S atmosphere at temperatures of 360–560°C to produce polycrystalline CZTS thin films. It is found that there are some impurity phases in the thin films with the sulfurization temperature less than 500°C, and the crystallite size of CZTS is quite small. With the further increase of the sulfurization temperature, the obtained thin films exhibit preferred (112) orientation with larger crystallite size and higher density. When the sulfurization temperature is 500°C, the band gap energy, resistivity, carrier concentration, and mobility of the CZTS thin films are 1.49 eV, 9.37 Ω · cm,1.714×1017 cm−3, and 3.89 cm2/(V · s), respectively. Therefore, the prepared CZTS thin films are suitable for absorbers of solar cells.

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Low-Cost CZTSSe Solar Cells Fabricated with Low Band Gap CZTSe Nanocrystals, Environmentally Friendly Binder, and Nonvacuum Processes

ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering ◽

10.1021/sc400465m ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. 561-568 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Chih-Liang Wang ◽

Arumugam Manthiram

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Band Gap ◽

Low Cost ◽

Environmentally Friendly ◽

Low Band Gap

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Influence of Annealing of PCDTBT:PC70BM on the Performance of Polymer Solar Cells

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.748.45 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 748 ◽

pp. 45-48

Author(s):

Shi Yan ◽

Long Feng Lv ◽

Yan Bing Hou

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Molecular Orbital ◽

Energy Gap ◽

Bulk Heterojunction ◽

Polymer Solar Cells ◽

Low Cost ◽

Photovoltaic Performance ◽

Energy Difference ◽

Large Area ◽

Donor And Acceptor

Bulk-heterojunction polymer solar cells (BHJ-PSCs) have attracted considerable attention because of their unique advantages of lightweight, low cost, mechanical flexibility and suitable for large-area fabrication [1–3]. In the last decades, much attention has been paid to the donor and acceptor system P3HT:PCBM, However, because of the relatively large bandgap of P3HT (∼1.9 eV) and the relatively small energy difference between the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of PCBM and the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of P3HT, the photovoltaic performance of the PSCs based on P3HT:PCBM is still significantly lower than the inorganic solar cells. Recently more work has been done on the novel donor materials which have a reduced energy gap with an ability of harvesting more of the sun’s spectral emission and a high charge carriers mobility for charge transport. One of the most promising new donor polymer is poly [N-9"-hepta-decanyl-2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4',7'-di-2-thienyl-2',1',3' -benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT) with a HOMO level of 5.5eV which is 0.4 eV down-shifted than that of P3HT. When PCDTBT is blended with the fullerene acceptor PC70BM, it showed excellent photovoltaic performance with a power conversion efficiency of ∼ 6%. [6]

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Simple Calculation of Power Conversion Efficiency of PC61BM and PC71BM Based Organic Solar Cells—Good Agreement with Experiments in Donor Materials with Different Band Gap Energies

Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology ◽

10.1166/jnn.2016.12298 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 3349-3354 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Takanori Otsura ◽

Emi Nakatsuka ◽

Takashi Nagase ◽

Takashi Kobayashi ◽

Hiroyoshi Naito

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Methyl Ester ◽

Band Gap ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Power Conversion ◽

Acid Methyl Ester ◽

Fluorescent Lamp ◽

Acid Methyl ◽

Butyric Acid Methyl Ester ◽

Good Agreement

The power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) as a function of band gap energies and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels of donor materials are studied in bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells (OSCs) fabricated from donor materials and fullerene acceptors. The PCEs of [6,6]-pheynl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) and [6,6]-pheynl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) based OSCs blended with donor materials under the Air Mass 1.5 (AM1.5) spectrum are calculated. In the calculation, the short circuit current densities are determined by band gap energies of donor materials and the open circuit voltages are derived from the difference between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) levels of donor materials and LUMO levels of PC61BM and PC71BM. The calculation is in good agreement with the experiments. The PCEs under a fluorescent lamp are also calculated. The calculated PCEs of PC71BM based OSCs under a fluorescent lamp are higher than those under the AM1.5 spectrum by a factor of 2. The PCEs of thieno [3,4-b] thiophene and benzodithiophene (PTB7):PC71BM based OSCs are studied under the AM1.5 spectrum and a fluorescent lamp spectrum and are consistent with the calculation.

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Improve Efficiency of Organic Solar Cell by Adding Dispersed ZnO Nanoparticles

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.842.43 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 842 ◽

pp. 43-51

Author(s):

Yang Ming Lu ◽

Yu Fan Wu ◽

Lien Chung Hsu

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Active Layer ◽

Zno Nanoparticles ◽

Polymer Solar Cells ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Weight Ratio ◽

Acid Methyl Ester ◽

Well Being ◽

Organic Polymer

The poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) is a promising candidate material for using in polymer solar cells researches due to its good absorbance and stability. In this study, we present the electro-optical performance of organic polymer solar cells based on P3HT: [6,-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) with weight ratio of 1:1. We added ZnO nanoparticles into the blending of P3HT and PCBM to improve the performance of polymer solar cells. ZnO nanoparticles are very promising inorganic metal oxides for use in organic solar cells because of its low cost, nontoxicity, high reflectance and good electron transport properties. The morphology of polymer solar cell was improved due to the additional of ZnO nanoparticles. The effects of thermal annealing on the solar cell had been studied. The post-annealing shows significant improvement in the performance for solar cell. How to prevent ZnO nanoparticles to agglomerate is essential as they are added to the active layer of the solar cell. Well dispersed ZnO nanoparticles are obtained by using the methanol solvent. The best performances of the solar cell with short-circuit current density of 14.66 mW/cm2 and efficiency of 3.92% can be obtained after post-annealed with well being dispersed 1.3wt% ZnO nanoparticles in the active layer.

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Energy Relay Dye Dynamics With Highly Purified Chlorophyll A as Photo-sensitizer

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/opl.2012.1504 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 1448 ◽

Author(s):

Komal Magsi ◽

Ping Lee ◽

Yeona Kang ◽

Charles M. Fortmann

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Chlorophyll A ◽

Low Cost ◽

Spectral Response ◽

Infrared Region ◽

Interesting Phenomenon ◽

Sensitive Tool ◽

Photo Response ◽

Natural Photosynthesis ◽

Shed Light

ABSTRACTDye type solar cells, especially those incorporating low cost dyes suffer from a very narrow photo-response wavelength range. Motivated by natural photosynthesis research, energy relay dyes (ERDs) appear to offer a possibility to broaden the dye-cell spectral response. In-turn photovoltaic cells can be an extremely sensitive tool for investigation of dye ERD photochemistry. Sensitive Chlorophyll based dye-type solar cells were prepared from purified natural Chlorophyll A. The importance of Chlorophyll purity is discussed as well as the use of purified Chlorophyll A in combination with ERD’s. . Results shed light on many interesting phenomenon including the nature of purified Chlorophyll A excitation and absorption. Importantly, it was found by this work that the ERD architecture when combined with a photosensitizer do not appear to having greater absorption in the infrared region of the spectrum than the ERD alone indicating a lack of cooperative absorption.

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