Issue 11, 2019, Issue in Progress
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RSC Advances

The effect of a trimetallic nanocomposite in the solar absorber layer of organic solar cells†

Xolani G. Mbuyise,a   Elhadi A. A. Arbabab  and  Genene Tessema Mola ORCID logo *a  

* Corresponding authors

a School of Chemistry & Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg Campus, Private Bag X01, Scottsville 3209, South Africa
E-mail: mola@ukzn.ac.za

b Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Omdurman Islamic University, Omdurman P.O. Box 382, Sudan

Abstract

Bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells were fabricated using a trimetallic nanocomposite (Ag : Zn : Ni) in the photoactive layer. The incorporation of the nanocomposite was limited to the concentrations of 4% and 6% by volume into poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and 6-6-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) blend solar absorber. The newly fabricated devices were investigated in terms of the optical, electrical and morphological properties of the photoactive medium. The power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of the solar cells were found to be increased by 57% and 84% due to improved harvesting of solar radiation due to the occurrence of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effects of the metal nanocomposite. Silver : zinc : nickel (Ag : Zn : Ni) tri-metallic nanocomposites were synthesized using a chemical reduction method from silver, zinc and nickel nitrates. The nanocomposites were characterized in terms of morphology, elemental composition and crystallinity which are extensively discussed in the manuscript.

Graphical abstract: The effect of a trimetallic nanocomposite in the solar absorber layer of organic solar cells

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8RA08725C
Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 Oct 2018
Accepted
22 Jan 2019
First published
19 Feb 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2019,9, 6070-6076

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The effect of a trimetallic nanocomposite in the solar absorber layer of organic solar cells

X. G. Mbuyise, E. A. A. Arbab and G. T. Mola, RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 6070 DOI: 10.1039/C8RA08725C

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