Rhenium oxide as the interfacial buffer layer for polymer photovoltaic cells

Abstract

The effect of a new interfacial buffer layer material, rhenium oxide (ReO₃), on the performance of polymer solar cells based on regioregular poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and methanofullerene [6,6]-phenyl C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) blend is investigated. The effect of the thickness of the oxide layer on electrical characteristics of the device is also studied. Compared with traditional devices, by inserting a 10 nm-thick ReO₃ as the anode buffer layer, a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.8 % (a 37% improvement compared with the control devices) can be obtained with J_sc of 13.6 mA/cm², V_oc of 0.45 V, and a fill factor (FF) of 53.6% under the simulated AM1.5 G 100 mW/cm² illumination in air. It is indicated that ReO₃ can be used as an effective buffer layer to enhance the polymer bulk heterojunction (BHJ) photovoltaic cell efficiency.

Keywords

Buffer Layer / Fill Factor / Power Conversion Efficiency / Polymer Solar Cell / Rhenium Oxide

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