TY - JOUR
T1 - Enhanced performance of PTB7
T2 - PC71BM solar cells via different morphologies of gold nanoparticles
AU - Ng, Annie
AU - Yiu, Wai Kin
AU - Foo, Yishu
AU - Shen, Qian
AU - Bejaoui, Amina
AU - Zhao, Yiying
AU - Gokkaya, Huseyin Cem
AU - Djurišić, Aleksandra B.
AU - Zapien, Juan Antonio
AU - Chan, Wai Kin
AU - Surya, Charles
PY - 2014/1/1
Y1 - 2014/1/1
N2 - The effects of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) incorporated in the hole transporting layer (HTL) of poly[[4,8-bis[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy] benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′] dithiophene-2, 6-diyl] [3-fluoro-2-[(2-ethylhexy)carbonyl]thieno[3,4-b]thiophened iyl]] (PTB7): [6,6]-phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) based solar cells are being systematically investigated in terms of the optical properties, electrical properties, and photovoltaic performance. The impacts of AuNPs on the optical response of the devices are modeled by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. The size of the AuNPs used in this work is around 50-70 nm, so that 10-20 nm penetrated from the HTL into the active layer. We found that the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of the devices with AuNPs are significantly enhanced from 7.5%, for the control device, to 8.0%, 8.1%, and 8.2% for Au nanosphere-, nanorod-, and nanocube-incorporated devices, respectively. Among the photovoltaic parameters of the AuNP devices, the short circuit current density (JSC) exhibits the largest improvement, which can be attributed to the improved optical properties of the devices. On the basis of the calculation results, the scattering cross section for the samples in the presence of AuNPs can be enhanced by a factor of ∼1010-1013 and Au nanocubes exhibit superior scattering cross section compared to the Au nanospheres and nanorods with the same linear dimension. From the experimental impedance spectroscopy results, we found that the addition of AuNPs had little effect on the electrical properties of the device. The device performance is also found to be sensitive to the concentration and morphology of the AuNPs.
AB - The effects of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) incorporated in the hole transporting layer (HTL) of poly[[4,8-bis[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy] benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′] dithiophene-2, 6-diyl] [3-fluoro-2-[(2-ethylhexy)carbonyl]thieno[3,4-b]thiophened iyl]] (PTB7): [6,6]-phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) based solar cells are being systematically investigated in terms of the optical properties, electrical properties, and photovoltaic performance. The impacts of AuNPs on the optical response of the devices are modeled by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. The size of the AuNPs used in this work is around 50-70 nm, so that 10-20 nm penetrated from the HTL into the active layer. We found that the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of the devices with AuNPs are significantly enhanced from 7.5%, for the control device, to 8.0%, 8.1%, and 8.2% for Au nanosphere-, nanorod-, and nanocube-incorporated devices, respectively. Among the photovoltaic parameters of the AuNP devices, the short circuit current density (JSC) exhibits the largest improvement, which can be attributed to the improved optical properties of the devices. On the basis of the calculation results, the scattering cross section for the samples in the presence of AuNPs can be enhanced by a factor of ∼1010-1013 and Au nanocubes exhibit superior scattering cross section compared to the Au nanospheres and nanorods with the same linear dimension. From the experimental impedance spectroscopy results, we found that the addition of AuNPs had little effect on the electrical properties of the device. The device performance is also found to be sensitive to the concentration and morphology of the AuNPs.
KW - absorption
KW - finite-difference time-domain
KW - gold nanoparticles
KW - plasmonic effect
KW - polymer solar cells
KW - scattering
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84917707391&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84917707391&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/am504250w
DO - 10.1021/am504250w
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84917707391
VL - 6
SP - 20676
EP - 20684
JO - ACS applied materials & interfaces
JF - ACS applied materials & interfaces
SN - 1944-8244
IS - 23
ER -