title: ZnO and conjugated polymer bulk heterojunction solar cells containing ZnO nanorod photoanode.
abstract: Hybrid solar cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and ZnO nanoparticle bulk heterojunctions (BHJ) combined with ZnO nanorod arrays were fabricated and analyzed. The dispersion of ZnO nanoparticles in P3HT is assisted by dye molecules, which function as a surface modifier for ZnO nanoparticles to improve compatibility between ZnO nanoparticles and P3HT. Compared to the ZnO nanorod/P3HT devices, the optimized cells with the ZnO nanoparticles dispersed in P3HT can significantly increase the short-circuit current and the overall power conversion efficiency from 1.36 mA cm(-2) to 2.51 mA cm(-2) and from 0.18% to 0.45% with 625 nm long ZnO nanorod arrays, respectively. The novel scheme of using the light-absorbing dye molecules both as light absorber and as surfactant for ZnO nanoparticles presents a facile route towards forming bulk heterojunction hybrid solar cells based on semiconducting nanomaterials and conjugated polymers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
authors.forename: Tao-Hua
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hung-Jue
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Sue
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng