Performance enhancement in organic photovoltaic devices using plasma-polymerized fluorocarbon-modified Ag nanoparticles

In this work, Ag nanoparticles were modified by an ultra-thin plasma-polymerized fluorocarbon film (CFX) to form a composite CFX-modified Ag nanoparticles/indium tin oxide (ITO) anode for application in organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. A CFX-modified Ag nanoparticles/ITO anode exhibited a superior surface work function of 5.4 eV suited for application in OPV devices. The performance of zinc phthalocyanine:fullerene-based OPV devices showed a significant improvement when the structural identical cells are made with the CFX-modified Ag nanoparticles/ITO. This work yielded a promising power conversion efficiency of 3.5 ± 0.1%, notably higher than that with a bare ITO anode (2.7 ± 0.1%).

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► Ag nanoparticles are modified by plasma-polymerized fluorocarbon film (CFX).
► A composite plasmonic Ag/CFX contact is formed on indium tin oxide (ITO) surface.
► A CFX-modified Ag/ITO anode exhibited superior surface work function of 5.4 eV.
► The plasmonic Ag nanoparticles enhance the absorption and OPV device performance.
► The OPV device with CFX-modified Ag/ITO anode has PCE of 3.5 ± 0.1%.