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Cyclic potential growth mechanism for electropolymerized polythiophenes as anode buffer layers in P3HT–PCBM solar cells
Author(s) -
Bom Sidhant,
Ortel Marlis,
Wagner Veit
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
physica status solidi (a)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.532
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1862-6319
pISSN - 1862-6300
DOI - 10.1002/pssa.201431059
Subject(s) - pedot:pss , anode , buffer (optical fiber) , materials science , polythiophene , optoelectronics , energy conversion efficiency , layer (electronics) , open circuit voltage , conductive polymer , nanotechnology , electrode , composite material , chemistry , polymer , voltage , electrical engineering , engineering
A new method for electropolymerization of polythiophenes as anode buffer layer in combination with a PEDOT:PSS buffer in P3HT–PCBM solar cells is introduced. This approach uses a stack of PEDOT:PSS and electropolymerized polythiophene (ePT) as an anode buffer layer. A significant improvement in the short circuit current is seen in solar cells with additional thin buffer layers of ePT grown on top of PEDOT:PSS. The cells with ePT buffer layer grown with constant potential mode compared to solar cells without additional ePT buffer layer have an 18.7% increase in power conversion efficiency. However, the cells with ePT grown with cyclic potential mode result in an additional enhancement in short circuit current with a further increase of 11.7% in power conversion efficiency. This improvement is attributed to better quality of the buffer layer obtained by cyclic potential electropolymerization technique with respect to film quality and area coverage.