Enhancement of organic solar cell efficiency by altering the zinc oxide photoanode nanostructure morphology

The current paper examines the effects of zinc oxide nanostructure configurations, as photo-anode formations of organic solar cells, on the performance of power conversion. To this end, some experiments were conducted during which a near band edge emission red shift of ~ 0.11 eV from nanoparticles to vertically oriented nano-rods was observed. This bandgap narrowing promotes transferring of photo-excited electrons towards the conduction band of photo-anode. A ~ 48% decrease in the deep level emission intensity revealed a smaller non-radiative waves emission due to lower level of crystal disorder. Using vertically oriented zinc oxide nanorods as photo-anodes, the photovoltaic efficiency of the organic solar cell improved considerably. The nano-rod-structured photo-anodes showed a 0.22 V rise in the open-circuit voltage, from 0.76 to 0.98 V, and a 2.08 times increment in the overall conversion performance, compared to the zinc oxide nanoparticle-structured photo-anodes. This superior performance is attributed to a greater chance of charge recombination and light-trapping in the cells, more efficient light absorption, and high level of crystallinity that grants easier electron mobility for vertically oriented zinc oxide nanorods. Moreover, a lower charge-transfer resistance (0.85 Ω) was achieved due to better electro-catalytic action for oxygen reduction for vertical nanorods compared to the other two zinc oxide configurations (1.62 Ω and 4.06 Ω). This boosted the cell performance by increasing the short-circuit current density (JSC). The fabricated solar cell may contribute to sustainable and environmentally friendly electricity generation process through reducing the consumption of non-renewable energy sources.

Citation

Samavati, Z., Samavati, A., Ismail, A.F. et al. (2022) Enhancement of organic solar cell efficiency by altering the zinc oxide photoanode nanostructure morphology, Journal of Nanostructure in Chemistry, 12, 1119–1130 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40097-021-00453-2

Type

Journal article

Language

en

Description

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in Journal of Nanostructure in Chemistry on 10/11/2021, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40097-021-00453-2 This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections.

ISSN

2008-9244

EISSN

2193-8865

Collections

Faculty of Science and Engineering