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Organic solar cell materials and active layer designs—improvements with carbon nanotubes: a review
Author(s) -
Ratier Bernard,
Nunzi JeanMichel,
Aldissi Matt,
Kraft Thomas M,
Buncel Erwin
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
polymer international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-0126
pISSN - 0959-8103
DOI - 10.1002/pi.3233
Subject(s) - carbon nanotube , active layer , organic solar cell , materials science , hybrid solar cell , nanotechnology , photovoltaic system , solar cell , polymer solar cell , energy conversion efficiency , photoactive layer , layer (electronics) , polymer , optoelectronics , composite material , electrical engineering , thin film transistor , engineering
Organic solar cells offer an opportunity to diversify renewable energy sources owing to their low technological cost. They are amenable to large surfaces and can easily be integrated into buildings. It is necessary, however, to improve their energy efficiency and durability for the development of a sustainable technology. In these devices, photovoltaic conversion is based on the separation of photogenerated charges at an interface between electron donor and acceptor materials, which imposes some constraints on the photoactive layer of the cells. In this paper, which includes some of our studies, we address optimization of the active layer: absorption and exciton dissociation steps, the open‐circuit voltage and the active layer morphology. A promising direction proposed to improve the active layer morphology and cell efficiency is the incorporation of highly anisotropic nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes, which may facilitate charge transport to the electrodes. Dispersion and orientation of the nanotubes in the organic matrix are discussed and we suggest an ideal model polymer solar cell which will maximize performance of the cells by using carbon nanotubes in the active layer. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry