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In early studies on organic solar cells with high conductivity PEDOT:PSS, the contact between ITO and PEDOT:PSS was considered ohmic. However, because low-conductivity PEDOT:PSS (such as AI4083) is mainly utilized in contemporary solar cells, the contact between ITO and PEDOT:PSS is not ohmic anymore. Despite the high possibility that there are serious interface problems, little attention has been paid to the interface between PEDOT:PSS and ITO. Most of the previous studies of interfaces in organic solar cells have focused on the interface between the active and charge transport layers. In this work, we have employed a conjugated polyelectrolyte that uses potassium poly[9,9-bis(3′-sulfonatopropyl)fluorene-alt-(9-(2,7-diethylheptyl)-carboazole)] (WPFSCz-) between ITO and low-conductivity PEDOT:PSS to overcome complicated organic–inorganic interfacial problems. The insertion of the WPFSCz- layer provides substantial advantages in the operation of polymer solar cells. First, the inserted WPFSCz- layer modifies the work-function of ITO, thereby forming an effective cascading energy alignment, which is favorable for good hole transport. Second, the introduction of the WPFSCz- layer eliminates interfacial trap sites. The reduction in traps reduces recombination losses at the interface, resulting in an improvement in the fill factor. These effects result in a significant increase in the efficiency of non-fullerene solar cells based on PM6 and Y6, from 15.86 to 17.34%. In addition, we have found that the problem of the interface in contact with ITO occurs not only in PEDOT:PSS, but also in oxide-based charge transport layers. We have confirmed that the insertion of the WPFSCz- layer between ITO and an MoO3 (or ZnO) charge transport layer shows the same positive results.

While hole extraction is crucial for the external quantum efficiency of conventional n-i-p colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cells (CQDSCs), sulfur-passivated p-type CQDs (pCQDs) have been the best...

Porphyrin derivatives have recently emerged as hole transport layers (HTLs) because of their electron-rich characteristics. Although several successes with porphyrin-based HTLs have been recently reported, achieving excellent solar cell performance, the chances to improve this further by molecular engineering are still open. In this work, Zn porphyrin (PZn)-based HTLs were developed by conjugating fluorinated triphenylamine (FTPA) wings at the perimeter of the PZn core for low-temperature perovskite solar cells (L-PSCs). The fluorinated PZn-HTLs (PZn–2FTPA and PZn–3FTPA) exhibited superior HTL properties compared to the nonfluorinated one (PZn–TPA). Moreover, their deeper highest occupied molecular orbital energy levels were beneficial for boosting open-circuit voltages, and their enhanced face-on stacking improved the hole transport properties. The L-PSC using PZn–2FTPA achieved the highest performance of 18.85%. Thus far, this result is one of the highest reported power conversion efficiencies among the...

Perylene diimide (PDI) based high bandgap acceptors, DTBTP, DTF2BTP, and DTF2TZP, are synthesized for use in fullerene-free organic solar cells. The two PDI rings are connected to the end of the n-type core, forming a PDI-n-type core-PDI structure. Several n-type core materials, 4,7-dithieno-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (DTBT), 5,6-difluoro-4,7-dithieno-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (DTF2BT), and 4,6-difluoro-2H-benzo[d][1,2,3]triazole (DTF2TZ), are incorporated in the PDI acceptors and the n-type core effect on photovoltaic properties is studies. The introduction of alkyl side chains onto the core structure weakened the intermolecular interaction, whereas fluorination of the core structure improved the backbone planarity and intermolecular ordering. DTF2BTP having a planar core structure without bulky alkyl chains yielded the best power conversion efficiency, 4.41%, when mixed with PTB7-Th donor. The n-type core structure was beneficial in terms of increasing the electron accepting properties and the absorption in the high bandgap region of non-fullerene acceptors.

A carbon nanotube–titania (CNT-TiO2) composite that coats diapers has been synthesized and tested for the removal of ammonia (self-cleaning test) and Candida albicans fungi (selfsterilizing test), which cause unpleasant odors and candidiasis disease, respectively. The composite was characterized by FTIR, FESEM-EDX, XRD, and UV-Vis DRS. Results of XRD and UV-Vis DRS measurement showed that the CNT-TiO2 composite has a high crystalline and low band gap. The results of the self-cleaning and self-sterilizing tests showed that the optimum composition of the composite was 1–3 wt% of CNT and 97–99 wt% of TiO2. Acid treatment at pH 1 was accompanied by ultrasonic agitation in appropriate conditions for composite synthesis. Within 2 hours of testing, the modified diapers, at the optimum composite composition, can remove ammonia and C. albicans by 91% and 98%, respectively. The experimental results showed that ammonia and fungi on the modified diapers were removed up to the standard minimum values required to prevent odor and diaper rash.