Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 3.0

Polymeric Solar Cells Efficiency Increase Using Doped Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles

A. Hennache, N. Mustapha, Z. Fekkai

Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology · pp. 604–616 · Published 16 Nov 2013

10.9734/BJAST/2014/4249

Abstract

Organic photovoltaic cells are made by sandwiching a composite active layer of organic electronic materials conjugated copolymer (BEHP-co-MEH-PPV) mixed with ZnO nanoparticles, between two metallic conductors, typically a layer of indium tin oxide (ITO) with high work function( 4.8 eV) and a layer of low work function metal(3.7eV) such as Aluminum. In this work, the spin coated conjugated copolymer blends (BEHP-co-MEH-PPV): ZnO thin films, deposited on both Silicon and glass substrates have been studied for morphology using atomic force microscopy (AFM). All films examined by AFM, showed a dense structure with average roughness of 20 -40 nm. Optical properties were explored for films coated onto glass substrates at a spin speed of 1200 rpm, using a spectrophotometer for optical absorption in the visible region. The photo luminescence (PL) spectra of the pure and blended BEHP-co-MEH-PPV films were recorded. Ellipsometry were used for refractive index, extinction coefficient and thickness. The current-voltage characteristics (I-V’s) of the solar cell showed that incorporation of the ZnO nanoparticles in the copolymer resulted into further increase in the power conversion efficiency compared to that in their absence. All deposited films showed good adhesion to substrates, and good optical properties. The conductivity of the active layer increases with the increment of the ZnO nanoparticles into the nanocomposite thin films. Such characteristics make the polymer: nanoparticle blended layer (BEHP-co-MEHPPV: ZnO) very favourable to charge injection and conduction for photovoltaic device.

Polymer BEHP-co-MEH-PPV thin films solar cells injecting electrode ZnO nanoparticles

References (19)

  1. 1 High-efficiency solution processable polymer photovoltaic cells by self-organization of polymer blends [DOI]
  2. 2 Plastic Solar Cells [DOI]
  3. 3 Electroluminescent Conjugated Polymers—Seeing Polymers in a New Light [DOI]
  4. 4 Integrated Optoelectronic Devices Based on Conjugated Polymers [DOI]
  5. 5 Conjugated Polymer Photovoltaic Cells [DOI]
  6. 6 Soluble and processable regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) for thin film field-effect transistor applications with high mobility [DOI]
  7. 7 Excimers and Exciplexes of Conjugated Polymers [DOI]
  8. 8 Efficient Hybrid Solar Cells from Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles and a Conjugated Polymer [DOI]
  9. 9 High Electron Mobility in Ladder Polymer Field-Effect Transistors [DOI]
  10. 10 Oriented Colloidal‐Crystal Thin Films by Spin‐Coating Microspheres Dispersed in Volatile Media [DOI]
  11. 11 Electrical and Optical Properties of ZnO Processed by Atomic Layer Deposition in Inverted Polymer Solar Cells [DOI]
  12. 12 Low bandgap polymers synthesized by FeCl3 oxidative polymerization [DOI]
  13. 13 Electroluminescence of Multicomponent Conjugated Polymers. 1. Roles of Polymer/Polymer Interfaces in Emission Enhancement and Voltage-Tunable Multicolor Emission in Semiconducting Polymer/Polymer Heterojunctions [DOI]
  14. 14 Spin coating of conjugated polymers for electronic and optoelectronic applications [DOI]
  15. 15 Preparation, characterization and property study of zinc oxide nanoparticles via a simple solution-combusting method [DOI]
  16. 16 Towards optimization of device performance in conjugated polymer photovoltaics: Charge generation, transfer and transport in poly(p-phenylene-vinylene) polymer heterojunctions [DOI]
  17. 17 Carboxyl-modified conjugated polymer sensitizer for dye sensitized solar cells: significant efficiency enhancement [DOI]
  18. 18 Photoluminescence of MEH-PPV/PS blends [DOI]
  19. 19 Characterization of Thin Films of Conjugated Polymer (BEHP-PPV) -co-(MEH-PPV) for OLEDs Aplication [DOI]

Cited by 10

Photoelectrical, optical, and transport properties of poly (3-hexylthiophene)-zinc sulfide hybrid nanocomposites

Beerandra Singh, Amarjeet Kaur · Journal of Applied Physics · 2014

Effect of single walled carbon nanotubes on the threshold voltage of dye based photovoltaic devices

S. Chakraborty, N.B. Manik · Physica B: Condensed Matter · 2016

A Review on Preparation, Properties and Applications of Polymeric Nanoparticle-Based Materials

Amara Nasir, Ayesha Kausar, Ayesha Younus · Polymer-Plastics Technology and Engineering · 2014

Photovoltaic Study of Chemically Derived Titanium-Doped Polythiophene Composites

S.R. Takpire, S.A. Waghuley · Journal of Electronic Materials · 2015

Performance enhancement of polymer solar cells using copper oxide nanoparticles

Aruna P Wanninayake, Subhashini Gunashekar, Shengyi Li · Semiconductor Science and Technology · 2015

Showing 5 of 10 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

54

Page views

0

PDF downloads

7

Outbound clicks

10

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.