The Effect of Chemical Additives on Photovoltaic Performance of P3HT:PCBM Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells
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Date
2012-06
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Addis Ababa Universty
Abstract
Organic bulk heterojunction solar cell devices based on blend of poly(3-
hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6, 6] phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) with
different concentration of propylthiouracil (PTU) additive have been fabricated and
characterized in an open air. The current density-voltage characteristics were
measured in the dark and under white light illumination at illumination intensity of 80
mW/cm2. The incident monochromatic photon to current conversion efficiency
(IPCE), and consistency of optical absorption and IPCE of the device without additive
and with propylthiouracil have been compared. Optimizations were made by varying
the concentration of propylthiouracil from 0.75% (w/w) to 1.5% (w/w). It was found
that a system with 1% (w/w) of propylthiouracil showed the best photovoltaic
performance with a short circuit current density, JSC of 5.69 mA/cm2, open circuit
voltage, VOC of 0.648 V, fill factor, FF of 40%, and power conversion efficiency
(PCE), of 1.8%, as compared to the system without propylthiouracil and with other
concentrations of propylthiouracil. The best device showed IPCE of 62% at 480 nm.
It was also observed clearly that IPCE spectra of each solar cell match the
corresponding optical absorption. Our results in general show that addition of 1%
(w/w) Propylthiouracil additive to P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction solar cell
improves efficiency of the device from 1% to 1.8%.
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Keywords
P3HT:PCBM