Efficient hybrid colloidal quantum dot/organic solar cells mediated by near-infrared sensitizing small molecules

Se Woong Baek, Sunhong Jun, Byeongsu Kim, Andrew H. Proppe, Olivier Ouellette, Oleksandr Voznyy, Changjo Kim, Junho Kim, Grant Walters, Jung Hoon Song, Sohee Jeong, Hye Ryung Byun, Mun Seok Jeong, Sjoerd Hoogland, F. Pelayo García de Arquer, Shana O. Kelley, Jung Yong Lee, Edward H. Sargent

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

86 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Solution-processed semiconductors are promising materials to realize optoelectronic devices that combine high performance with inexpensive manufacturing. In particular, the exploitation of colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) capable of harvesting infrared photons, in conjunction with visible-absorbing organic chromophores, has been demonstrated as an interesting route. Unfortunately, CQD/organic hybrid photovoltaics have been limited to power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) below 10% due to chemical mismatch and difficulties in facilitating charge collection. Here we devise a hybrid architecture that overcomes these limitations by introducing small molecules into the CQD/organic stacked structure. The small molecule complements CQD absorption and creates an exciton cascade with the host polymer, thus enabling efficient energy transfer and also promoting exciton dissociation at heterointerfaces. The resulting hybrid solar cells exhibit PCEs of 13.1% and retain over 80% of their initial PCE after 150 h of continuous operation unencapsulated, outperforming present air-processed solution-cast CQD/organic photovoltaics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)969-976
Number of pages8
JournalNature Energy
Volume4
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019 Nov 1

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by Ontario Research Fund–Research Excellence program (ORF7–Ministry of Research and Innovation, Ontario Research Fund–Research Excellence Round 7); and by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. This work was supported by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants (nos. NRF-2015M1A2A2057509 and NRF-2019R1A2C3008035). J.H.S. and S. Jeong were supported by grant no. NRF-2019M3D1A1078296. A.H.P. was supported by an NSERC CGS-D fellowship.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

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