Efficient inverted polymer solar cells using low-temperature zinc oxide interlayer processed from aqueous solution

Abstract

In this work, an aqueous solution method that entails processing at low temperatures is utilized to deposit a ZnO interlayer in poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl):[6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester-based inverted polymer solar cells (PSCs). The effect of ZnO annealing temperature from 50 to 150 °C on PSC performance is systemically studied and it is found that the transition point is approximately 80 °C. When the ZnO annealing temperature is higher than 80 °C, PSCs show similar current density–voltage (J–V) characteristics and achieve a power conversion efficiency higher than 3.5%. Transmittance spectrum, PL spectrum, and surface morphology studies show that an annealing temperature above 80 °C is sufficient for ZnO to achieve a relatively good quality, and that a higher temperature only slightly improves ZnO quality, which is confirmed from statistical results. Furthermore, flexible PSCs based on PET substrates show a comparable power conversion efficiency and good flexibility.