Acidic Buffer-Free Organic Solar Cells Using Vanadium-Doped Indium Oxide Anodes

Abstract

We developed V-doped In2O3 (IVO) films to use as a bufferand anode-integrated electrode for acidic poly (3,4-ethylene dioxylene thiophene):poly (styrene sulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS) buffer layer free-organic solar cells (OSCs). By co-sputtering of V2O5 and In2O3 targets and rapid thermal annealing, we obtained IVO films with a sheet resistance of 41.7 /square, and an optical transmittance of 80.4%, and a work function of 5.0 eV. The P3HT:PCBM-based OSCs fabricated on an IVO anode successfully functioned without an acidic PEDOT:PSS buffer layer and showed a PCE of 2.91%, which was much higher than that (1.068%) of a PEDOT:PSS free OSC with an ITO anode. The elimination of the acidic buffer layer in OSCs enabled us to produce the reliable OSCs with decreased coating steps. © 2014 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/2.0041412ssl] All rights reserved.