Hybrid polymer: Colloidal nanoparticle photovoltaic cells incorporating a solution-processed, multi-functioned ZnO nanocrystal layer

We report significant improvement in both the power conversion efficiency and the environmental stability of solution-processed hybrid organic-inorganic solar cells by including a solution-processed ZnO nanocrystal layer between the photoactive layer and the cathode. For devices based on blends of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and mostly-spherical CdSe nanocrystals, incorporation of the ZnO layer leads to an up to 70% increase in the power conversion efficiency. Compared to only a few hours of shelf lifetime for unencapsulated devices with the metal cathode directly deposited on the hybrid active layer, devices with the ZnO layer can retain approximately 70% of the original efficiency when they are exposed to the laboratory ambient without encapsulation for more than two months. We attribute the function of this ZnO nanocrystal layer to a combination of optical, electronic, morphological, and chemical effects, including blocking leakage of photogenerated holes to the cathode, optimizing the optical intensity profile in the hybrid active layer, minimizing recombination or quenching of photogenerated excitons and charge carriers, significantly reducing the transport rate of oxygen and water molecules to the active layer and reducing degradation/oxidation of any low work function layer at the cathode interface.