Utility of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) as efficient electron donor material in bulk-heterojunction solar cells with enhanced power conversion efficiency

• Main Authors: Siddiqui, Hafsa, Parra, Mohammad Ramzan, Pandey, Padmini, Qureshi, M.S., Haque, Fozia Zia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: H. : ĐHQGHN 2020
• Subjects: Bulk heterojunction; Solar cells; Copper oxide nanoparticles; Thin films; Photo current density; External quantum efficiency
• Online Access: http://repository.vnu.edu.vn/handle/VNU_123/76777; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsamd.2020.01.004
• Institution: Vietnam National University, Hanoi

In the present work, we have endeavored the utilization of wet-chemically synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) as the active layer in hybrid bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells. The BHJs with CuO-NPs display significantly different physics from customary BHJs, and prove a noteworthy improvement in their performance. It is noted that with the addition of CuO-NPs, the morphology of the photoactive layer endures significant changes. Incorporating CuO-NPs is an additional paradigm for BHJs solar cells which enhances the photocurrent density from 9.43 mA/cm2 to 11.32 mA/cm2 and the external quantum efficiency as well. Also the power-conversion efficiency (PCE) improved from 2.85% to 3.82% without harming the open circuit voltage and the fill factor. The enhancement in PCE achieved here makes it worthy to design high-performance organic solar cells holding inorganic nanoparticles.