Solution-processed nickel acetate as hole collection layer for polymer solar cells

Abstract

We report efficient polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and indene–C₆₀ bisadduct (ICBA) with water soluble nickel acetate (NiAc) instead of acidic poly(ethylenedioxythiophene) : poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT : PSS) as hole collection layer (HCL). The NiAc layer after thermal annealing at 150 °C for 30 min (α-NiAc) shows high transparency with light transmittance better than PEDOT : PSS in the wavelength range of 500–900 nm, high hole mobility of 1.3 × 10⁻³ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and suitable energy levels for application as HCL. The power conversion efficiency of the PSC based on P3HT/ICBA with the α-NiAc anode buffer layer reached 6.08% under the illumination of AM1.5G 100 mW cm⁻², which is among the best efficiencies of the P3HT-based PSCs. This work gives a new option for HCL selection in designing higher efficiency and more stable PSCs.