The Effect of Doped TiO2 Layer on the Performance and Stability of PCDTBT: PCBM-based Organic Solar Cells

Abstract

     Charge extraction layers play a crucial role in developing the performance of the inverted organic solar cells. Using a transparent metal oxide with appropriate work function to the photoactive layer can significantly decrease interface recombination and enhance charge transport mechanism. Therefore, electron selective films that consist of aluminium-doped titanium dioxide (TiO₂:Al) with different concentrations of Al (0.4, 0.8, and 1.2)wt %  were prepared using sol-gel technique. The inverted organic solar cells PCPDTBT: PCBM with Al doped TiO2 as electron extraction layer were fabricated. It is well known that Al doping concentration potentially affects the physical characteristics of the TiO₂ by controlling the optical, morphological, and structural properties. The effect of Al incorporation on the optical and morphological properties of the prepared films were analysed using UV-Vis spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The current–voltage (J-V) curves of the PCPDTBT: PCBM organic solar cells show that the TiO2:Al layer with 0.8% Al wt%, has the highest power conversion efficiency which is 3.02%.