Enhanced Charge Transport in Conventional Polymer Solar Cells with a Perovskite-Type LaNiO3 Layer

Qiancheng Shang; Junsheng Yu; Rong Hu; Zixiong Liu; Jiang Cheng; Ying Li; Xuxia Shai; Ming-Ming Huo; Xin Yang; Lu Li

doi:10.1021/acsami.9b22049

Enhanced Charge Transport in Conventional Polymer Solar Cells with a Perovskite-Type LaNiO₃ Layer

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 Mar 18;12(11):13051-13060. doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b22049. Epub 2020 Mar 9.

Authors

Qiancheng Shang^{1

2}, Junsheng Yu¹, Rong Hu², Zixiong Liu¹, Jiang Cheng², Ying Li², Xuxia Shai², Ming-Ming Huo³, Xin Yang², Lu Li²

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, School of Optoelectronic Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu 610054, China.
² National Research Base of Co-Innovation Center for Micro/Nano Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing 402160, China.
³ Laser Research Institute, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Qingdao 266100 China.

PMID: 32100532
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b22049

Abstract

In this study, a novel metal oxide, lanthanum nickelate (LNO) with a perovskite structure, was introduced into a polymer solar cell (PSC) device, replacing the PEDOT:PSS hole transport layer (HTL). The results show that the LNO-based PTB7-Th:PC₇₁BM solar cell exhibits a higher circuit current density, power conversion efficiency, and stability compared with a device with PEDOT:PSS HTL. To understand the effect of LNO HTL on the performance of devices, the active layer morphology and charge transport characteristics in PSCs were systematically analyzed. The morphology of active layer was affected by the HTL, which further regulated the generation and transport processes of charge carrier in the PSC device. For the LNO HTL, an appropriate thickness (8 nm) and a small surface roughness (S_q = 0.7 nm) can coordinate the energy-level structure of device and improve the interface contact between the FTO electrode and PTB7-Th:PC₇₁BM active layer, promoting the charge transport performance of device. Therefore, this work provides a new consideration for the preparation of efficient, stable, and low-cost polymer solar cells.

Keywords: charge transport; hole transport layer; lanthanum nickelate; polymer solar cells; power conversion efficiency.