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Reducing Burn‐In Loss of Organic Photovoltaics by a Robust Electron‐Transporting Layer
Author(s) -
Oh Hyerim,
Sim HaBin,
Han Seung Hee,
Kwon YongJu,
Park Jae Hyun,
Kim Myung Hwa,
Kim Jin Young,
Kim WonSuk,
Kim Kyungkon
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced materials interfaces
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.671
H-Index - 65
ISSN - 2196-7350
DOI - 10.1002/admi.201900213
Subject(s) - photoactive layer , materials science , organic solar cell , van der waals force , layer (electronics) , photovoltaics , degradation (telecommunications) , transmission electron microscopy , energy conversion efficiency , chemical engineering , active layer , nanoparticle , optoelectronics , photochemistry , nanotechnology , chemistry , polymer solar cell , photovoltaic system , composite material , molecule , polymer , organic chemistry , thin film transistor , ecology , telecommunications , computer science , engineering , biology
Abstract It is revealed that instability of interface between photoactive layer and electron‐transporting layer (ETL) is one of the causes of the rapid degradation of organic photovoltaics (OPV) performance during initial operation (burn‐in loss) under the light soaking. The stability of OPV is greatly enhanced by applying a robust ETL composed of TiO 2 nanoparticles (TNPs). The TNPs bound with π–π interactive 3‐phenylpentane‐2,4‐dione (TNP–Ph) form more robust ETLs than those bound with van der Waals interactive 3‐methyl‐2,4‐pentanedione TNP (TNP–Me). The OPV with TNP–Ph maintains 73% of its initial power conversion efficiency (PCE) after 1000 h of light soaking, whereas the PCE of OPV with TNP–Me substantially reduces to 25% of initial PCE. The impedance analysis reveals that the burn‐in loss is due to increase of resistance at the TNP ETL/photoactive layer interface during the light soaking. The transmission electron microscopy analysis shows that the TNP–Ph maintains most clear and robust interface with photoactive layer after the light‐soaking test. This is attributed to the strong π–π interaction between phenyl rings of TNP–Ph. However, the TNP–Me bound with van der Waals interactive organic ligands penetrates the photoactive layer during the light‐soaking test.