PEDOT:PSS incorporated silver nanoparticles prepared by gamma radiation for the application in organic solar cells

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):Polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) is a dispersion used as a buffer layer on the ITO electrode in the organic solar cells. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are incorporated to the dispersion using two different strategies. The first is by reduction of silver ions in the PEDOT:PSS dispersion. Chemical reduction of silver ions using sodium borohydried is compared with reduction using gamma radiation. The TEM and UV-visible spectra indicates that smaller Ag NPs are obtained for the chemical reduction method than those obtained from the radiochemical. The second strategy, is by preparing Ag NPs in polyvinyl pyrolidone (PVP) solution using gamma irradiation then adding them to the PEDOT:PSS dispersion. Layers of the PEDOT:PSS incorporated different concentrations of Ag NPs (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10%) are formed. The SEM and AFM studies of the layers morphology reveal that smooth morphology on the obtained for layers containing Ag NPs up to concentrations of 4%.