title: Structure, Optical Absorption, and Performance of Organic Solar Cells Improved by Gold Nanoparticles in Buffer Layers.
abstract: 11-Mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA)-stabilized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) embedded in copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) were used as a buffer layer between a poly(3-hexyl-thiophene) (P3HT)/[6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) bulk heterojunction and anodic indium-tin oxide (ITO) substrate. As systematic synchrotron-based grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) experiments demonstrated that the AuNPs present in the buffer layer can improve the microstructure of the active layer with a better lamella packing of P3HT from the surface to the interior, UV-visible absorption spectrum measurements revealed enhanced optical absorption due to the localized surface plasma resonance (LSPR) generated by the AuNPs. The device of ITO/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate/CuPc:MUA-stabilized AuNPs/P3HT:PCBM/LiF/Al was found with over 24% enhancement of power conversion efficiency (PCE) in comparison with reference devices without AuNPs. This remarkable improvement in PCE should be partially attributed to LSPR generated by the AuNPs and partially to improved crystallization as well as preferred orientation order of P3HT due to the presence of the AuNPs, which would promote more applications of metal NPs in the organic photovoltaic devices and other organic multilayer devices.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 2019 Jialuo Road, Shanghai 201800, China.|Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility(SSRF), Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 239 Zhangheng Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai 201204, China.
authors.forename: Yingguo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 2019 Jialuo Road, Shanghai 201800, China.
authors.forename: Shanglei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University , 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University , 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Zhongwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University , 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 2019 Jialuo Road, Shanghai 201800, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 2019 Jialuo Road, Shanghai 201800, China.
authors.forename: Dongping
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 2019 Jialuo Road, Shanghai 201800, China.|Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility(SSRF), Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 239 Zhangheng Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai 201204, China.|Shanghai Institute of Materials Genome , Shanghai 200444, China.
authors.forename: Tieying
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 2019 Jialuo Road, Shanghai 201800, China.|Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility(SSRF), Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 239 Zhangheng Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai 201204, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University , 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Baoquan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 2019 Jialuo Road, Shanghai 201800, China.|Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility(SSRF), Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 239 Zhangheng Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai 201204, China.|Shanghai Institute of Materials Genome , Shanghai 200444, China.
authors.forename: Xingyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
keywords: GIXRD; MUA-stabilized gold nanoparticles; P3HT; microstructure; organic photovoltaic device; power conversion efficiency