Issue 21, 2017

Cumulative gain in organic solar cells by using multiple optical nanopatterns

Abstract

Light wave manipulation by using nanostructures is a promising strategy for enhancing the light absorption of thin photoactive layers in organic photovoltaics (OPVs). Here, we propose a method for nanopatterning the multiple interfaces in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) OPVs by using soft imprint lithography at room temperature. The interfaces in the OPVs were separately modified in the front ZnO layers and the back metal electrodes with a grating pattern. Each nanopattern increased the light absorption and the power conversion efficiency of the OPVs by up to 32.5% depending on the materials. Moreover, the nanopatterning at both the front and the back cumulatively increased the light absorption, resulting in the highest efficiency increase of 38.5%. The increases were observed in various BHJ systems with different properties containing the polymers PTB7, PCE10, P3HT, or PNTz4T. A certified performance of 10.31% was achieved for the PNTz4T:PC71BM system in the presence of the nanopatterns. Detailed analysis by using the absorption spectra and optical simulations indicated that the origins of the optical gains from the nanopatterns on the front and the back are different. The front pattern increases the transmittance and the back pattern increases the scattering and excites the surface plasmon polaritons.

Graphical abstract: Cumulative gain in organic solar cells by using multiple optical nanopatterns

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 Mar 2017
Accepted
19 Apr 2017
First published
19 Apr 2017

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2017,5, 10347-10354

Cumulative gain in organic solar cells by using multiple optical nanopatterns

S. W. Heo, T. H. Huong Le, T. Tanaka, I. Osaka, K. Takimiya and K. Tajima, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2017, 5, 10347 DOI: 10.1039/C7TA01897E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements