Digital printing of a novel electrode for stable flexible organic solar cells with a power conversion efficiency of 8.5

S Wageh; Mahfoudh Raïssi; Thomas Berthelot; Matthieu Laurent; Didier Rousseau; Abdullah M Abusorrah; Omar A Al-Hartomy; Ahmed A Al-Ghamdi

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-93365-8

Digital printing of a novel electrode for stable flexible organic solar cells with a power conversion efficiency of 8.5

Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 9;11(1):14212. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-93365-8.

Authors

S Wageh^{1

2}, Mahfoudh Raïssi³, Thomas Berthelot⁴, Matthieu Laurent⁴, Didier Rousseau⁴, Abdullah M Abusorrah⁵, Omar A Al-Hartomy⁶, Ahmed A Al-Ghamdi⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, K. A. CARE Energy Research and Innovation Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. wswelm@kau.edu.sa.
² Physics and Engineering Mathematics Department, Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Menoufia University, Menouf, 32952, Egypt. wswelm@kau.edu.sa.
³ KELENN Technology, 6 rue Ampère, Igny, France. mahfoudh.raissi@kelenntech.com.
⁴ KELENN Technology, 6 rue Ampère, Igny, France.
⁵ Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, College of Engineering, K. A. CARE Energy Research and Innovation Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, K. A. CARE Energy Research and Innovation Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) mixed with single-wall nanotubes (SWNTs) (10:1) and doped with (0.1 M) perchloric acid (HClO₄) in a solution-processed film, working as an excellent thin transparent conducting film (TCF) in organic solar cells, was investigated. This new electrode structure can be an outstanding substitute for conventional indium tin oxide (ITO) for applications in flexible solar cells due to the potential of attaining high transparency with enhanced conductivity, good flexibility, and good durability via a low-cost process over a large area. In addition, solution-processed vanadium oxide (VOx) doped with a small amount of PEDOT-PSS(PH1000) can be applied as a hole transport layer (HTL) for achieving high efficiency and stability. From these viewpoints, we investigate the benefit of using printed SWNTs-PEDOT-PSS doped with HClO₄ as a transparent conducting electrode in a flexible organic solar cell. Additionally, we applied a VOx-PEDOT-PSS thin film as a hole transporting layer and a blend of PTB7 (polythieno[3,4-b] thiophene/benzodithiophene): PC71BM (phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester) as an active layer in devices. Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were applied as an electron transport layer and Ag was used as the top electrode. The proposed solar cell structure showed an enhancement in short-circuit current, power conversion efficiency, and stability relative to a conventional cell based on ITO. This result suggests a great carrier injection throughout the interfacial layer, high conductivity and transparency, as well as firm adherence for the new electrode.