Efficient organic/polycrystalline silicon hybrid solar cells

• Efficient PEDOT:PSS/polycrystalline Si hybrid solar cell has been firstly demonstrated.
• Sufficient passivation of polycrystalline Si wafer through high pressure water vapor treatment.
• Uniform coating of conjugated polymer thin films(PEDOT:PSS) on the top of nanostructured polycrystalline Si substrates

We firstly investigated efficient poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS)/n-type polycrystalline silicon (p-Si) heterojunction solar cells fabricated by chemical mist deposition (CMD) using a high-pressure H2O-vapor-treated p-Si prior to organic film deposition. High-pressure H2O vapor treatment of the p-Si efficiently suppressed grain boundary defects and improved carrier transport at the PEDOT:PSS/p-Si interface. Furthermore, compared to spin coated devices, the CMD devices demonstrated a more uniform photovoltaic performance. The power conversion efficiency of the PEDOT:PSS/p-Si heterojunction solar cells was 9.7% with a short-circuit current density of 33.5 mA/cm2, an open-circuit voltage of 0.54 V, and a fill factor of 0.53. These findings suggest that CMD with a negatively charged mist precursor provides uniform adhesion of PEDOT:PSS on p-Si, resulting in increased photovoltaic performance.

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