The role of oxide buffer layer in inverted structure polymer solar cells was studied by comparing the impacts of metal oxides (TiO2 and Nb2O5) with different relative energy levels to the LUMO level of PCBM on solar cell efficiency. It was found that the electrons transported from the PCBM to the electron collecting electrode in a way of tunneling through oxide buffer layer instead of a diffusion process. Therefore the solar cell performance was not related to the sort of oxide for buffer layer. The role of oxide film is to enable the formation of a continuous PCBM layer to prevent the recombination between the holes in P3HT and the electrons in collecting electrode.

Role of oxide buffer layer in polymer solar cells with inverted structure

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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