Green-solvent-processed hybrid solar cells based on donor-acceptor conjugated polyelectrolyte

Shiyu Yao; Leijing Liu; Shan Jiang; Wenkun Han; Yang Liu; Wenyue Ma; Yi Liu; Tian Cui; Wenjing Tian

doi:10.1039/c8ra07884j

Green-solvent-processed hybrid solar cells based on donor-acceptor conjugated polyelectrolyte

RSC Adv. 2018 Nov 15;8(67):38591-38597. doi: 10.1039/c8ra07884j. eCollection 2018 Nov 14.

Authors

Shiyu Yao^{1

2}, Leijing Liu², Shan Jiang², Wenkun Han², Yang Liu², Wenyue Ma², Yi Liu², Tian Cui^{1

3}, Wenjing Tian^{2

4}

Affiliations

¹ College of Physics, Jilin University Changchun 130012 P. R. China cuitian@jlu.edu.cn +86-0431-85168448.
² State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Jilin University Changchun 130012 P. R. China wjtian@jlu.edu.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Jilin University Changchun 130012 P. R. China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Physics and Technology for Advanced Batteries, Ministry of Education, Jilin University Changchun 130012 P. R. China.

Abstract

In this work, a quaternary ammonium side chain modified conjugated polyelectrolyte PFBTBr, with excellent solubility in nonaromatic and nonhalogenated solvents, was designed and synthesized as the donor material for the green-solvent-processed hybrid solar cells (HSCs). By introducing the donor-acceptor structure, PFBTBr shows a lower lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level and a broad absorption from 300 to 700 nm. Incorporating the water soluble CdTe nanocrystals (NCs) as acceptor, the green-solvent-processed HSCs based on conjugated polyelectrolyte and inorganic NCs were fabricated. Through the active layer optimization, a well blended donor/acceptor active layer with continuous electron/hole transport pathway and smoother surface was achieved. As a result, a photovoltaic efficiency of 3.67% was realized. After the further interfacial modification and chloride treatment, the power conversion efficiency of the green-solvent-processed HSCs was improved to 5.03% with the maximum external quantum efficiency value of 87.01% at 400 nm under the AM 1.5 G 100 mW cm^-2 illumination.