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Device architecture engineering in polymer/ZnO quantum dots/ZnO array ternary hybrid solar cells

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Abstract

Hybrid solar cells (HSCs) based on pristine ZnO nanorod array (ZnO-NRA) and conjugated polymer with ordinary inverted device architecture normally perform low open-circuit voltage (V oc) and short-circuit current density (J sc). This paper compares three improved device architectures for preparation of efficient polymer/ZnO-NRA HSCs by incorporating ZnO quantum dots (ZnO-QDs) into device with different engineering. It is found that when growth of ZnO-QDs on ZnO nanorod surface to formation of homostructured ZnO core–shell array (ZnO-CSA) instead of pristine ZnO-NRA can significantly increase the device V oc, while blending ZnO-QDs into MEH-PPV between nanorods can significantly increase the device J sc. The best photovoltaic performance is realized in the architecture consisting of ZnO-CSA as well as blends of MEH-PPV and ZnO-QDs, in which the V oc and J sc can be significant enhanced simultaneously. The present study reports the architecture-related device performances in polymer/ZnO-NRA solar cells, which will help to guide the design of HSCs or related optoelectronic devices.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LQ14F040003) and the Seed Fund of Young Scientific Research Talents of Huzhou University (RK21056).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Science and Key Lab of Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Huzhou University, Huzhou, 313000, People’s Republic of China

    Fan Wu

  2. Huzhou Center of New Energy Industrial Innovation, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Huzhou, 313000, People’s Republic of China

    Yu Zhao

  3. Department of Technology, Beijing Aerospace Wanfang Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing, 100070, People’s Republic of China

    Hui Zhang

  4. Department of Chemistry, Huzhou University, Huzhou, 313000, People’s Republic of China

    Yanhua Tong

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  1. Fan Wu
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  2. Yu Zhao
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Correspondence to Fan Wu.

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Wu, F., Zhao, Y., Zhang, H. et al. Device architecture engineering in polymer/ZnO quantum dots/ZnO array ternary hybrid solar cells. Appl. Phys. A 120, 941–947 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-015-9260-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-015-9260-7

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