Enhancing conversion efficiency of inverted organic solar cells using Ag nanoparticles and long wavelength absorbing tin (II) phthalocyanine

•Wide wavelength IOSCs were characterized by doping the active layer with long wavelength absorbing SnPc.•The hole-transporting layer (HTL) comprised Ag nanoparticles (NPs)-embedded PEDOT:PSS.•The SnPc-doped active layer exhibits a long wavelength absorbing and prevents the active layer from PCBM clusters degrading.•Ag NPs-embedded PEDOT:PSS enhanced the scattering and reflection of light, leading to increase absorption efficiency.

Wide wavelength inverted organic solar cells (IOSCs) were fabricated and characterized by doping the active layer with long wavelength absorbing tin (II) phthalocyanine (SnPc). The hole-transporting layer (HTL) comprised Ag nanoparticles (NPs)-embedded poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). The short-circuit current density (Jsc) and power conversion efficiency (PCE) were considerably enhanced. It is attributed to that Ag NPs result in the enhancement of the scattering and reflection of light, leading to increase absorption efficiency in the active layer of IOSCs. Moreover, the SnPc-doped active layer exhibits a long wavelength absorption and prevents the active layer from degradation by PCBM clusters. The optimized IOSCs exhibited an open circuit voltage (Voc), Jsc, fill factor (F.F.), and PCE of 0.5 V, 10.34 mA/cm2, 45.33% and 2.33%, respectively, under simulated AM1.5G illumination at 100 mW/cm2.

Graphical abstractThe figure shows a scanning electron microscopic (SEM) cross-sectional image of ITO/ZnO/P3HT:PCBM:SnPc/PEDOT:PSS:Ag NPs stacked layers and thereby demonstrates their formation.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide