Efficient Multilayers Organic Solar Cells with Hybrid Interfacial Layer-based P3HT and CuO Nanoparticles

Abstract Organic solar cell (OSC) devices suffer from low power conversion efficiency (PCE) due to deep trap states that absorb photogenerated charges, act as recombination centers, and reduce charge collection. To further improve the PCE, an optimized hole transport layer (HTL) must be engineered for efficient hole transport and reduced deep trap states. A hybrid HTL consisting of organic and inorganic materials was formed using a combination of CuO nanoparticles (NPs) having an average size of 50 nm and poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). The hybrid HTL was used in the fabrication and characterization of an inverted OSC device structure. In consequence, the incorporation of CuO-NPs into the P3HT resulted in an increase of 8.66% in photocurrent density. Additionally, the PCE increased from 3.77 to 4.22% while the open circuit voltage (V oc ) was maintained. The higher hole mobility obtained for the optimum device using the charge extraction by increasing voltage (CELIV) measurement was 8.47 × 10 − 4 cm 2 V − 1 s − 1 . This highlights the potential of designing novel organic solar cells with inorganic nanoparticles, offering enhanced performance and efficiency.