Improved stability of non-ITO stacked electrodes for large area flexible organic solar cells

Mike Hambsch; Hui Jin; Andrew J. Clulow; Andrew Nelson; Norifumi L. Yamada; Marappan Velusamy; Qingyi Yang; Furong Zhu; Paul L. Burn; Ian R. Gentle; Paul Meredith

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2014.06.032

Improved stability of non-ITO stacked electrodes for large area flexible organic solar cells

Mike Hambsch
, Hui Jin
, Andrew J. Clulow
, Andrew Nelson
, Norifumi L. Yamada
, Marappan Velusamy
, Qingyi Yang
, Furong Zhu
, Paul L. Burn^*
, Ian R. Gentle
, Paul Meredith

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We present ITO-free rigid and flexible monolithic organic solar cells with an active area of 25 cm². The devices employ a transparent insulator/metal/insulator anode consisting of a molybdenum oxide/silver/zinc sulfide stack that had a peak transmittance of 80% and a sheet resistance of 3.6/□. Neutron reflectometry showed that zinc sulfide formed a more stable capping layer at the air interface than molybdenum oxide. It was found that blade coating could be used to form good quality large area films on both rigid (glass) and flexible [poly(ethylene terephthalate)] substrates with much reduced material consumption. Cells with an active layer comprised of a blend of poly[N-9″-heptadecanyl-2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4′, 7′-di-2-thienyl-2′,1′,3′-benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C₇₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₀BM) gave a power conversion efficiency of 2.7%, which was 40% higher than a standard ITO-based device. No loss in efficiency was observed when a flexible substrate was used.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	182-190
Number of pages	9
Journal	Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Volume	130
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2014.06.032
Publication status	Published - Nov 2014

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SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

User-Defined Keywords

Blade coating
Neutron reflectometry
Organic photovoltaics
Organic semiconductors

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10.1016/j.solmat.2014.06.032

Cite this

@article{a648fe3d115e4e5c8afa07a17158485b,

title = "Improved stability of non-ITO stacked electrodes for large area flexible organic solar cells",

abstract = "We present ITO-free rigid and flexible monolithic organic solar cells with an active area of 25 cm2. The devices employ a transparent insulator/metal/insulator anode consisting of a molybdenum oxide/silver/zinc sulfide stack that had a peak transmittance of 80\% and a sheet resistance of 3.6/□. Neutron reflectometry showed that zinc sulfide formed a more stable capping layer at the air interface than molybdenum oxide. It was found that blade coating could be used to form good quality large area films on both rigid (glass) and flexible [poly(ethylene terephthalate)] substrates with much reduced material consumption. Cells with an active layer comprised of a blend of poly[N-9″-heptadecanyl-2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4′, 7′-di-2-thienyl-2′,1′,3′-benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC70BM) gave a power conversion efficiency of 2.7\%, which was 40\% higher than a standard ITO-based device. No loss in efficiency was observed when a flexible substrate was used.",

keywords = "Blade coating, Neutron reflectometry, Organic photovoltaics, Organic semiconductors",

author = "Mike Hambsch and Hui Jin and Clulow, \{Andrew J.\} and Andrew Nelson and Yamada, \{Norifumi L.\} and Marappan Velusamy and Qingyi Yang and Furong Zhu and Burn, \{Paul L.\} and Gentle, \{Ian R.\} and Paul Meredith",

note = "Funding Information: This work has been supported in part by the Australian Research Council ( DP1211572 ). We acknowledge funding from the University of Queensland (Strategic Initiative – Centre for Organic Photonics \& Electronics) and the Queensland Government (National and International Research Alliances Program). This work was performed in part at the Queensland node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) – a company established under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy to provide nano and microfabrication facilities for Australia׳s researchers. The initial neutron reflectivity experiments were approved by the Neutron Science Proposal Review Committee of J-PARC/MLF (Proposal no. 2012B0200) and supported by the Inter-University Research Program on Neutron Scattering of IMSS , KEK. We also acknowledge the support of the Bragg Institute, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and the Australian Institute for Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) for providing the neutron research facilities used in the second round of reflectivity experiments. The authors would like to thank Jake McEwan for helping with the neutron reflectometry measurements and Dr. G.C. Schmidt for supplying the PET substrates. This Program has also been supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Responsibility for the views, information, or advice expressed herein is not accepted by the Australian Government. ",

year = "2014",

month = nov,

doi = "10.1016/j.solmat.2014.06.032",

language = "English",

volume = "130",

pages = "182--190",

journal = "Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells",

issn = "0927-0248",

publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Improved stability of non-ITO stacked electrodes for large area flexible organic solar cells

AU - Hambsch, Mike

AU - Jin, Hui

AU - Clulow, Andrew J.

AU - Nelson, Andrew

AU - Yamada, Norifumi L.

AU - Velusamy, Marappan

AU - Yang, Qingyi

AU - Zhu, Furong

AU - Burn, Paul L.

AU - Gentle, Ian R.

AU - Meredith, Paul

N1 - Funding Information: This work has been supported in part by the Australian Research Council ( DP1211572 ). We acknowledge funding from the University of Queensland (Strategic Initiative – Centre for Organic Photonics & Electronics) and the Queensland Government (National and International Research Alliances Program). This work was performed in part at the Queensland node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) – a company established under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy to provide nano and microfabrication facilities for Australia׳s researchers. The initial neutron reflectivity experiments were approved by the Neutron Science Proposal Review Committee of J-PARC/MLF (Proposal no. 2012B0200) and supported by the Inter-University Research Program on Neutron Scattering of IMSS , KEK. We also acknowledge the support of the Bragg Institute, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and the Australian Institute for Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) for providing the neutron research facilities used in the second round of reflectivity experiments. The authors would like to thank Jake McEwan for helping with the neutron reflectometry measurements and Dr. G.C. Schmidt for supplying the PET substrates. This Program has also been supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Responsibility for the views, information, or advice expressed herein is not accepted by the Australian Government.

PY - 2014/11

Y1 - 2014/11

N2 - We present ITO-free rigid and flexible monolithic organic solar cells with an active area of 25 cm2. The devices employ a transparent insulator/metal/insulator anode consisting of a molybdenum oxide/silver/zinc sulfide stack that had a peak transmittance of 80% and a sheet resistance of 3.6/□. Neutron reflectometry showed that zinc sulfide formed a more stable capping layer at the air interface than molybdenum oxide. It was found that blade coating could be used to form good quality large area films on both rigid (glass) and flexible [poly(ethylene terephthalate)] substrates with much reduced material consumption. Cells with an active layer comprised of a blend of poly[N-9″-heptadecanyl-2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4′, 7′-di-2-thienyl-2′,1′,3′-benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC70BM) gave a power conversion efficiency of 2.7%, which was 40% higher than a standard ITO-based device. No loss in efficiency was observed when a flexible substrate was used.

AB - We present ITO-free rigid and flexible monolithic organic solar cells with an active area of 25 cm2. The devices employ a transparent insulator/metal/insulator anode consisting of a molybdenum oxide/silver/zinc sulfide stack that had a peak transmittance of 80% and a sheet resistance of 3.6/□. Neutron reflectometry showed that zinc sulfide formed a more stable capping layer at the air interface than molybdenum oxide. It was found that blade coating could be used to form good quality large area films on both rigid (glass) and flexible [poly(ethylene terephthalate)] substrates with much reduced material consumption. Cells with an active layer comprised of a blend of poly[N-9″-heptadecanyl-2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4′, 7′-di-2-thienyl-2′,1′,3′-benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC70BM) gave a power conversion efficiency of 2.7%, which was 40% higher than a standard ITO-based device. No loss in efficiency was observed when a flexible substrate was used.

KW - Blade coating

KW - Neutron reflectometry

KW - Organic photovoltaics

KW - Organic semiconductors

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84904998525

U2 - 10.1016/j.solmat.2014.06.032

DO - 10.1016/j.solmat.2014.06.032

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:84904998525

SN - 0927-0248

VL - 130

SP - 182

EP - 190

JO - Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

JF - Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

ER -

Improved stability of non-ITO stacked electrodes for large area flexible organic solar cells

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