Surface engineering of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) electrode using molecular termination layers

► Four novel axially substituted phthalocyanines are synthesized. ► They are applied as mono-molecular termination on indium tin oxide. ► Axial phthalocyanines shift the ITO Fermi level to 5.0 eV. ► The hybrid interface in organic solar cells was transformed into a band aligned π-π interface. ► Organic solar cells with 67% higher power conversion efficiencies η are produced.