Open AccessSignificant Stability Enhancement in High‐Efficiency Polymer:Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells by Blocking Ultraviolet Photons from Solar Light
Author(s) -
Jeong Jaehoon,
Seo Jooyeok,
Nam Sungho,
Han Hyemi,
Kim Hwajeong,
Anthopoulos Thomas D.,
Bradley Donal D. C.,
Kim Youngkyoo
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
advanced science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.388
H-Index - 100
ISSN - 2198-3844
DOI - 10.1002/advs.201500269
Subject(s) - polymer solar cell , materials science , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , energy conversion efficiency , ultraviolet , solar cell , fullerene , organic solar cell , chemical engineering , polymer , analytical chemistry (journal) , optoelectronics , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , engineering
Achievement of extremely high stability for inverted‐type polymer:fullerene solar cells is reported, which have bulk heterojunction (BHJ) layers consisting of poly[4,8‐bis(5‐(2‐ethylhexyl)thiophen‐2‐yl)benzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐b′]dithiophene‐alt‐3‐fluorothieno[3,4‐b]thiophene‐2‐carboxylate] (PTB7‐Th) and [6,6]‐phenyl‐C71‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC 71 BM), by employing UV‐cut filter (UCF) that is mounted on the front of glass substrates. The UCF can block most of UV photons below 403 nm at the expense of ≈20% reduction in the total intensity of solar light. Results show that the PTB7‐Th:PC 71 BM solar cell with UCF exhibits extremely slow decay in power conversion efficiency (PCE) but a rapidly decayed PCE is measured for the device without UCF. The poor device stability without UCF is ascribed to the oxidative degradation of constituent materials in the BHJ layers, which give rise to the formation of PC 71 BM aggregates, as measured with high resolution and scanning transmission electron microscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The device stability cannot be improved by simply inserting poly(ethylene imine) (PEI) interfacial layer without UCF, whereas the lifetime of the PEI‐inserted PTB7‐Th:PC 71 BM solar cells is significantly enhanced when UCF is attached.