Li Nian

Interfacial engineering is essential to achieve optical efficiencies and facilitate the industrialization of organic solar cells (OSCs). By doping organosilica nanodots (OSiNDs) into zinc oxide (ZnO), we have developed a hybrid ZnO/OSiNDs (4 wt %) cathode interface layer (CIL) that significantly enhances the overall performance of inverted organic solar cells (i-OSCs). In the PM6/BTP-eC9 active layer system, i-OSC devices with a ZnO/OSiNDs (4 wt %) CIL exhibit a superior power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.49%, surpassing that of reference devices with a pure ZnO CIL (15.88%). The OSiNDs not only modulate the work function of ZnO, thereby facilitating the carrier transport between ZnO interface and active layer, but also enhance device stability. After exposure to 1200 min of 100 mW/cm² illumination, including UV light, the devices retain 89.4% of their initial PCE, whereas devices based solely on ZnO retain only 57.7% under identical conditions. In this study, we present pioneering insights into the selection of environmentally friendly and cost-effective OSiNDs for modifying ZnO to create organic-inorganic hybrid coordination complexes as effective CILs.

In this work, it is reported that zirconium oxide (ZrO₂) doped organosilica nanodots (OSiNDs: ZrO₂) with light‐ and charge‐management properties serve as efficient cathode interlayers for high‐efficiency inverted organic solar cells (i‐OSCs). ZrO₂ doping effectively improves the light harvesting of the active layer, the physical contact between the active layer, as well as the electron collection property by habiting charge recombination loss. Consequently, all devices utilizing the OSiNDs: ZrO₂ cathode interlayer exhibit enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE). Specifically, i‐OSCs based on PM6:Y6 and PM6:BTP‐eC9 achieve remarkable PCEs of 17.16% and 18.43%, respectively. Furthermore, the PCE of device based on PM6:Y6 maintains over 97.2% of its original value following AM 1.5G illumination (including UV light) at 100 mW cm⁻² for 600 min.

In this study, an effective and simple approach for optimizing the performance of both cathode and anode interlayers in OSCs is demonstrated using 4-heptyl-4′-cyanobiphenyl (7CB) to dope a classic cathode (ZnO and SnO₂) or an anode interlayer [poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)]. Because of the enhanced light absorption, improved physical contact between a photoactive layer and an interlayer, and increased carrier recombination, all of the devices based on a 7CB-doped interlayer show increased short-circuit current density (J_sc), fill factor (FF), and power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared to the corresponding undoped interlayer, regardless it is the anode interlayer or the cathode interlayer, which is a rare phenomenon in the interlayer modification field.