Issue 11, 2012
From the journal:

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

Organic photovoltaic devices with colloidal TiO2nanorods as key functional components†

Anna Loiudice,ab   Aurora Rizzo,*bc   Luisa De Marco,b   Maria R. Belviso,d   Gianvito Caputo,c   P. Davide Cozzoliac  and  Giuseppe Gigliabc  

* Corresponding authors

a Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Innovazione, Università del Salento, via per Arnesano, I-73100 Lecce, Italy

b CBN - Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies, Italian Institute of Technology, Energy Platform, Via Barsanti sn, 73010 Arnesano (Lecce), Italy

c NNL CNR-Istituto di Nanoscienze, c/o Distretto Tecnologico, Via per Arnesano Km 5, 73100 Lecce, Italy
E-mail: aurora.rizzo@nano.cnr.it
Fax: +39-0832-298237
Tel: +39-0832-298211

d Scuola Superiore ISUFI, Università del Salento, via per Arnesano, I-73100 Lecce, Italy

Abstract

We report on a novel approach to integrate colloidal anatase TiO2 nanorods as key functional components into polymer bulk heterojunction (BHJ) photovoltaic devices by means of mild, all-solution-based processing techniques. The successful integration of colloidal nanoparticles in organic solar cells relies on the ability to remove the long chain insulating ligands, which indeed severely reduces the charge transport. To this aim we have exploited the concomitant mechanisms of UV-light-driven photocatalytic removal of adsorbed capping ligands and hydrophilicization of TiO2 surfaces in both solid-state and liquid-phase conditions. We have demonstrated the successful integration of the UV-irradiated films and colloidal solutions of TiO2 nanorods in inverted and conventional solar cell geometries, respectively. The inverted devices show a power conversion efficiency of 2.3% that is a ca. three times improvement over their corresponding cell counterparts incorporating untreated TiO2, demonstrating the excellent electron-collecting property of the UV-irradiated TiO2 films. The integration of UV-treated TiO2 solutions in conventional devices results in doubled power conversion efficiency for the thinner active layer and in maximum power conversion efficiency of 2.8% for 110 nm thick devices. In addition, we have demonstrated, with the support of device characterizations and optical simulations, that the TiO2 nanocrystal buffer layer acts both as electron-transporting/hole-blocking material and optical spacer.

Graphical abstract: Organic photovoltaic devices with colloidal TiO2 nanorods as key functional components

About
Cited by
Related
Download options Please wait...

Supplementary files

Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C2CP23971J
Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Dec 2011
Accepted
12 Dec 2011
First published
10 Feb 2012

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012,14, 3987-3995

Permissions

Request permissions

Organic photovoltaic devices with colloidal TiO2 nanorods as key functional components

A. Loiudice, A. Rizzo, L. De Marco, M. R. Belviso, G. Caputo, P. D. Cozzoli and G. Gigli, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012, 14, 3987 DOI: 10.1039/C2CP23971J

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements