The effect of metal oxide nanoparticle concentrations in PEDOT:PSS layer on the performance of P3HT:PCBM organic solar cells

• An organic solar cell was fabricated with Fe2O3 mixed buffer layer.
• The effect of Fe2O3 NPs in PEDOT:PSS light harvesting system was investigated.
• Increasing concentration of NPs increased the absorbance of light resulting in higher Jsc.
• A 32% increase in power conversion efficiency was obtained due to the addition of 0.7 wt.% Fe2O3 NPs.
• A comparative study was also done between the use of Fe2O3 and WO3 NPs.

An improved organic solar cell was obtained by focusing on the effects of metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) concentrations in the buffer layer. The performance was compared by mixing metal oxide nanoparticle into PEDOT:PSS (Poly(3,4 ethylenedioxy-thiophene) Poly(styrene-sulfonate)) based buffer layer. We studied the effect of Fe2O3 NPs by changing its concentration from 0.1 to 1 wt.%. Increasing concentrations of NPs showed good light absorption ability. The solar cells with a bare active layer showed a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.79% while with Fe2O3 NPs at 0.7 wt.% concentration, showed higher performance resulting a PCE of 3.68% under AM 1.5G illumination. A decline in PCE was seen at 1 wt.% of Fe2O3 NPs. This phenomenon was also compared with the use WO3 NPs in place of Fe2O3 NPs.

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