Functional solid additive modified PEDOT:PSS as an anode buffer layer for enhanced photovoltaic performance and stability in polymer solar cells.
Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is most commonly used as an anode buffer layer in bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) polymer solar cells (PSCs). However, its hygroscopic and acidic nature contributes to the insufficient electrical conductivity, air stability and restricted photovoltaic (PV) performance for the fabricated PSCs. In this study, a new multifunctional additive, 2,3-dihydroxypyridine (DOH), has been used in the PEDOT: PSS buffer layer to obtain modified properties for PEDOT: PSS@DOH and achieve high PV performances. The electrical conductivity of PEDOT:PSS@DOH films was markedly improved compared with that of PEDOT:PSS. The PEDOT:PSS@DOH film exhibited excellent optical characteristics, appropriate work function alignment, and good surface properties in BHJ-PSCs. When a poly(3-hexylthiohpene):[6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester blend system was applied as the photoactive layer, the power conversion efficiency of the resulting PSCs with PEDOT:PSS@DOH(1.0%) reached 3.49%, outperforming pristine PEDOT:PSS, exhibiting a power conversion enhancement of 20%. The device fabricated using PEDOT:PSS@DOH (1.0 wt%) also exhibited improved thermal and air stability. Our results also confirm that DOH, a basic pyridine derivative, facilitates adequate hydrogen bonding interactions with the sulfonic acid groups of PSS, induces the conformational transformation of PEDOT chains and contributes to the phase separation between PEDOT and PSS chains.
School of Electronics Engineering, College of IT Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.
Binrui
B
Xu
School of Electronics Engineering, College of IT Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.|Division of Information Technology, Future Industries Institute, Engineering and Environment, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, 5095, South Australia.
Sai-Anand
SA
Gopalan
Research Institute of Advanced Energy Technology, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.|Department of Chemistry Education, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.
Anantha-Iyengar
AI
Gopalan
Department of Chemistry Education, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.
Nallal
N
Muthuchamy
Research Institute of Advanced Energy Technology, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.|Department of Chemistry Education, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.
Kwang-Pill
KP
Lee
School of Electronics Engineering, College of IT Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.
Jae-Sung
JS
Lee
School of Electronics Engineering, College of IT Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.
Yu
Y
Jiang
School of Electronics Engineering, College of IT Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.
Sang-Won
SW
Lee
School of Electronics Engineering, College of IT Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.
Sae-Wan
SW
Kim
School of Electronics Engineering, College of IT Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.
Ju-Seong
JS
Kim
School of Electronics Engineering, College of IT Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.
Hyun-Min
HM
Jeong
School of Electronics Engineering, College of IT Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.
Jin-Beom
JB
Kwon
School of Electronics Engineering, College of IT Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea.
Jin-Hyuk
JH
Bae
School of Electronics Engineering, College of IT Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, 41566, Daegu, Korea. swkang@knu.ac.kr.
Shin-Won
SW
Kang