The detailed characterization of solution-derived nickel (II) oxide (NiO) hole-transporting layer (HTL) films and their application in high efficiency organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells is reported. The NiO precursor solution is examined in situ to determine the chemical species present. Coordination complexes of monoethanolamine (MEA) with Ni in ethanol thermally decompose to form non-stoichiometric NiO. Specifically, the [Ni(MEA)2(OAc)]+ ion is found to be the most prevalent species in the precursor solution. The defect-induced Ni3+ ion, which is present in non-stoichiometric NiO and signifies the p-type conduction of NiO, as well as the dipolar nickel oxyhydroxide (NiOOH) species are confirmed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells with a polymer/fullerene photoactive layer blend composed of poly-dithienogermole-thienopyrrolodione (pDTG-TPD) and [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) are fabricated using these solution-processed NiO films. The resulting devices show an average power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.8%, which is a 15% improvement over devices utilizing a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) HTL. The enhancement is due to the optical resonance in the solar cell and the hydrophobicity of NiO, which promotes a more homogeneous donor/acceptor morphology in the active layer at the NiO/BHJ interface. Finally, devices incorporating NiO as a HTL are more stable in air than devices using PEDOT:PSS.

Solution‐Processed Nickel Oxide Hole Transport Layers in High Efficiency Polymer Photovoltaic Cells

Significant progress in power conversion efficiencies and stabilities of polymer solar cells has been achieved using semiconducting metal oxides as charge extraction interlayers. Both n- and p-type transition metal oxides with good transparency in the visible as well as infrared region make good Ohmic contacts to both donors and acceptors in polymer bulk heterojunction solar cells. Their compatibility with roll-to-roll processing makes them very attractive for low cost manufacturing of polymer solar cells. In this review, we will present the recent results on synthesis and characterization of these metal oxides along with the device performance of the solar cells using these metal oxides as interlayers.

Metal oxides for interface engineering in polymer solar cells

Solution-processed nickel oxides (s-NiOx) are used as hole injection and transport layers in solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). By increasing the annealing temperature, the nickel acetate precursor fully decomposes and the s-NiOx film shows larger crystalline grain sizes, which lead to better hole injection and transport properties. UV–ozone treatment on the s-NiOx surface is carried out to further modify its surface chemistry, improving the hole injection efficiency. The introduction of more dipolar species of nickel oxy-hydroxide (NiO(OH)) is evidenced after the treatment. Dark injection–space charge limited (DI–SCL) transient measurement was carried out to compare the hole injection efficiency of s-NiOx and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) hole injection layers (HIL). The UV–ozone treated s-NiOx shows significantly better hole injection, with a high injection efficiency of 0.8. With a p-type thin film transistor (TFT) configuration, the high-tem...

Nickel Oxide Hole Injection/Transport Layers for Efficient Solution-Processed Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

The advance in lifestyle, modern industrialization and future technological revolution are always at high expense of energy consumption. Unfortunately, there exist serious issues such as limited storage, high cost and toxic contamination in conventional fossil fuel energy sources. Instead, solar energy represents a renewable, economic and green alternative in the future energy market. Among the photovoltaic technologies, organic photovoltaics (OPVs) demonstrate a cheap, flexible, clean and easy-processing way to convert solar energy into electricity. However, OPVs with a conventional device structure are still far away from industrialization mainly because of their short lifetime and the energy-intensive deposition of top metal electrode. To address the stability and cost issue simultaneously, an inverted device structure has been introduced into OPVs, bridging laboratory research with practical application. In this review, recent progress in device structures, working mechanisms, functions and advances of each component layer as well their correlations with the efficiency and stability of inverted OPVs are reviewed and illustrated.

F.A. Kröger

Papers

The effect of doubly ionizable vacancy acceptors on the conductivity of donor doped semiconducting compounds with special reference to CdTe and ZnTe

Point defects and phase stability of transition metal compounds

The defect structure of silver-doped CdS

The thermodynamics of imperfections in AgBr

The role of the ionization of defects in causing systematic differences in the semiconductor properties of undoped compounds