Improvement in the Lifetime of Planar Organic Photovoltaic Cells through the Introduction of MoO3 into Their Cathode Buffer Layers
Recently, MoO3, which is typically used as an anode buffer layer in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVCs), has also been used as a cathode buffer layer (CBL). Here, we check its efficiency as a CBL using a planar heterojunction based on the CuPc/C60 couple. The CBL is a bi-layer tris-(8-hydroxyquinolin...
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doaj-1c187def6a304147a48f56d5e5fa0f3f2020-11-24T22:05:54ZengMDPI AGElectronics2079-92922014-03-013112213110.3390/electronics3010122electronics3010122Improvement in the Lifetime of Planar Organic Photovoltaic Cells through the Introduction of MoO3 into Their Cathode Buffer LayersLinda Cattin0Mustapha Morsli1Jean Christian Bernède2Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel (IMN), UMR 6502, Université de Nantes, CNRS, 2 rue de la Houssinière, BP 32229, F-44322 Nantes cedex 3, FranceUNAM, Université de Nantes, Faculté des Sciences et des Techniques, 2 rue de la Houssinière, BP 92208, F-44000 Nantes, FranceUNAM, Université de Nantes, MOLTECH-Anjou, CNRS, UMR 6200, 2 rue de la Houssinière, BP 92208, F-44000 Nantes, FranceRecently, MoO3, which is typically used as an anode buffer layer in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVCs), has also been used as a cathode buffer layer (CBL). Here, we check its efficiency as a CBL using a planar heterojunction based on the CuPc/C60 couple. The CBL is a bi-layer tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq3)/MoO3. We show that the OPVC with MoO3 in its CBL almost immediately exhibits lower efficiency than those using Alq3 alone. Nevertheless, the OPVCs increase their efficiency during the first five to six days of air exposure. We explain this evolution of the efficiency of the OPVCs over time through the variation in the MoO3 work function due to air contamination. By comparison to a classical OPVC using a CBL containing only Alq3, if it is found that the initial efficiency of the latter is higher, this result is no longer the same after one week of exposure to ambient air. Indeed, this result is due to the fact that the lifetime of the cells is significantly increased by the presence of MoO3 in the CBL.http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/3/1/122planar organic photovoltaic cellscathode buffer layermolybdenum oxidelifetimeair contaminationwork function |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Linda Cattin Mustapha Morsli Jean Christian Bernède |
spellingShingle |
Linda Cattin Mustapha Morsli Jean Christian Bernède Improvement in the Lifetime of Planar Organic Photovoltaic Cells through the Introduction of MoO3 into Their Cathode Buffer Layers Electronics planar organic photovoltaic cells cathode buffer layer molybdenum oxide lifetime air contamination work function |
author_facet |
Linda Cattin Mustapha Morsli Jean Christian Bernède |
author_sort |
Linda Cattin |
title |
Improvement in the Lifetime of Planar Organic Photovoltaic Cells through the Introduction of MoO3 into Their Cathode Buffer Layers |
title_short |
Improvement in the Lifetime of Planar Organic Photovoltaic Cells through the Introduction of MoO3 into Their Cathode Buffer Layers |
title_full |
Improvement in the Lifetime of Planar Organic Photovoltaic Cells through the Introduction of MoO3 into Their Cathode Buffer Layers |
title_fullStr |
Improvement in the Lifetime of Planar Organic Photovoltaic Cells through the Introduction of MoO3 into Their Cathode Buffer Layers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Improvement in the Lifetime of Planar Organic Photovoltaic Cells through the Introduction of MoO3 into Their Cathode Buffer Layers |
title_sort |
improvement in the lifetime of planar organic photovoltaic cells through the introduction of moo3 into their cathode buffer layers |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Electronics |
issn |
2079-9292 |
publishDate |
2014-03-01 |
description |
Recently, MoO3, which is typically used as an anode buffer layer in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVCs), has also been used as a cathode buffer layer (CBL). Here, we check its efficiency as a CBL using a planar heterojunction based on the CuPc/C60 couple. The CBL is a bi-layer tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq3)/MoO3. We show that the OPVC with MoO3 in its CBL almost immediately exhibits lower efficiency than those using Alq3 alone. Nevertheless, the OPVCs increase their efficiency during the first five to six days of air exposure. We explain this evolution of the efficiency of the OPVCs over time through the variation in the MoO3 work function due to air contamination. By comparison to a classical OPVC using a CBL containing only Alq3, if it is found that the initial efficiency of the latter is higher, this result is no longer the same after one week of exposure to ambient air. Indeed, this result is due to the fact that the lifetime of the cells is significantly increased by the presence of MoO3 in the CBL. |
topic |
planar organic photovoltaic cells cathode buffer layer molybdenum oxide lifetime air contamination work function |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/3/1/122 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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