Towards efficient and cost-effective inverted hybrid organic solar cells using inorganic semiconductor in the active layer

The article investigates the effects of NiO (p-type) and TiO₂ (n-type) nanoparticles (NPs) on the performance of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and (phenyl-C61-butyric acid methylester) (PCBM) based devices with an inverse geometry. Various weight ratios of these nanoparticles were mixed in the polymer solution using 1,2-dichlorobenzene as solvent. An optimal amount of NPs-doped active layer exhibited higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.85% as compared to the reference cell, which exhibited an efficiency of 3.40% under white light illumination intensity of 100 mW/cm². Enhanced PCE originates from increased film roughness and light harvesting due to increased absorption range upon mixing an optimal amount of NPs in the organic-based active layer. Further addition of NiO and TiO₂ concentration relative to PCBM resulted in significant agglomeration of nanoparticles leading to degraded device parameters.