Improved performance of organic photovoltaic devices by doping F4TCNQ onto solution-processed graphene as a hole transport layer

Interfacial engineering is crucial for the stability and efficiency of organic solar cells. PEDOT:PSS, which has been widely used as a hole transport layer, has stability issues when exposed to air because of its acidic and hygroscopic nature. Herein, we investigated the electrical properties of reduced graphene oxide covered with an F₄TCNQ interfacial layer as an alternative and its effect on the photovoltaic performance. Using an array of charge transport, spectroscopic and imaging techniques we found that the reduced graphene oxide film is efficiently hole-doped through an interfacial charge transfer, which enhances its electrical properties and favorably modifies its work function. Consequently, the open-circuit voltage and fill factor of solar cells incorporating such films are improved. P3HT might also be hole-doped by F₄TCNQ, due to the formation of an intermixed interfacial layer, resulting in an increase of power conversion efficiency.     

Effect of characteristic properties of graphene oxide on reduced graphene oxide/Si schottky diodes performance

We investigated the effect of the size of graphene oxide (GO) sheets made with two different types of GO solution on the performance of Si-based solar cells. Large-sized reduced GO (rGO) with an in-plane crystalline diameter of 3.42 nm has smaller defect sites and thus the Si/rGO Schottky junction solar cell shows a lower leakage current than the solar cell with small-sized rGO (i.e. an in-plane crystalline diameter of 3.03 nm). Enhanced open-circuit voltage (V_oc) and improved short-circuit current (J_sc) are observed for the solar cell with large-sized rGO due to the increased work function and Schottky barrier height at the Si and rGO junction. In other words, an increased built-in potential and a wider depletion region of the solar cell with large-sized rGO contribute to the increased carrier absorption and generation. These findings indicate that (i) rGO acts as a good transparent conducting layer and hole-transporting layer, and (ii) the control of rGO size in Si/rGO Schottky junction solar cell is important to improve the performance.     

Moderately reduced graphene oxide/PEDOT:PSS as hole transport layer to fabricate efficient perovskite hybrid solar cells

Graphene oxide (GO) with single layer was moderately reduced at 200 °C for 4 h under N₂. Then the moderately reduced graphene oxide (rGO) water solution was employed as an additive to tune the properties of conventional poly(ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) solution. It's found that the incorporation of rGO into PEDOT:PSS nearly did not change its transparency, hydrophilic property, or the surface roughness. So, the rGO/PEDOT:PSS composite was used as a hole transport layer (HTL) to fabricate perovskite solar cells (PSCs). As a result, PSCs with rGO/PEDOT:PSS as HTL exhibit improved power conversion efficiency than that of PSCs with PEDOT:PSS as HTL. Our findings show that moderately reduced rGO/PEDOT:PSS could be an efficient HTL to improve power conversion efficiency of PSCs.     

Palladium-decorated zinc sulfide/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites for enhanced visible light-driven photodegradation of indigo carmine

The removal of toxic organic pollutants from wastewater using reduced graphene oxide (rGO) based photocatalysts has dominated recent scientific research. As a result numerous nanomaterials have been studied and used for wastewater remediation. ZnS has been widely studied due to its versatile application in photocatalysis. This study presents the synthesis of a series of Pd-decorated ZnS/rGO nanocomposites by a coprecipitation method. The materials were characterized using Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM)–EDS, UV/visible spectrophotometry, and BET surface area analysis. Indigo carmine (IC) dye (20 ppm) was chosen as a model for organic pollutants and was used to evaluate the photocatalytic performance of the Pd–ZnS/rGO nanocomposites under simulated solar light with varying concentrations of Pd in the host material. Pd–ZnS/rGO showed significant visible light induced photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of IC. Highest photocatalytic activity was observed for the 1.0% Pd–ZnS/rGO sample (k=2.19×10⁻² min⁻¹).     

Characterisation of charge carrier transport in thin organic semiconductor layers by time-of-flight photocurrent measurements

The paper reviews recent advances in characterisation of charge carrier transport in organic semiconductor layers by time-of-flight photocurrent measurements, with the emphasis on the measurements of the samples with co-planar electrodes. These samples comprised an organic semiconductor layer whose thickness is on the order of a μm or less, and thus mimic the structures of organic thin film transistors. In the review we emphasise the importance of considering spatial variation of electric field in these, essentially two-dimensional structures, in interpretation of photocurrent transients. We review the experimental details of this type of measurements and give examples that demonstrate exceptional sensitivity of the method to minute concentration of electrically active defects in the organic semiconductors as well as the capability of probing charge transport along the channels of different mobility that reside in the same sample.     

Electron-beam-induced reduced graphene oxide as an alternative hole-transporting interfacial layer for high-performance and reliable polymer solar cells

We demonstrate an eco-friendly, simple, and cost-effective method for manufacturing reduced graphene oxide (GO) induced with electron-beam irradiation, and we investigate the feasibility of the electron-beam-induced reduced GO (ERGO) as a hole-transporting interfacial layer in polymer solar cells (PSCs). In addition, the chemical composition, conductivity, work-function, and morphology of ERGOs with various absorbed doses were systematically investigated. The analytical results revealed that the reduced GO (RGO) was successfully prepared using electron-beam irradiation, and the electrical conductivity of ERGO was increased (up to 18.3 S/cm) with increasing the amount of absorbed dose. The PSCs with the ERGO as a hole-transporting interfacial layer exhibited comparable cell performance (3.52 ± 0.08% of power conversion efficiency) to that of the conventional PSCs with the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS), and they had better stability than the PEDOT:PSS-based PSCs. From the results, we confirmed that electron-beam irradiation is an effective approach to prepare the RGO, and the ERGO was preferable to the PEDOT:PSS for high-performance and stable PSCs.     

N-type polymeric organic flash memory device: Effect of reduced graphene oxide floating gate

In this paper, n type nonvolatile memory devices were fabricated by implanting a bilayer (rGO sheets/Au NP) floating gates, using n-type polymer semiconductor, poly {[N, N′ bis (2octyldodecyl) - naphthalene-1, 4, 5, 8 - bis (dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl] – alt - 5,5′ - (2, 2′ bithiophene)} [P(NDI2OD-T2)n]. In the developed organic field effect transistor memory devices, electrons are trapped/detrapped in rGO sheet/Au NP's nano-floating gates by controlling the charge carrier density in the active layer through back gate bias control. The devices showed interesting non-volatile memory properties with a large memory window of ∼34 V, a programming-reading-erasing cycling endurance of 103 times and most importantly, an improved retention time characteristics estimated by extrapolation (longer than the technological requirement of commercial memory devices (>10 years)). This approach provides a great potential for fabricating high-performances organic nano-floating gate memory devices and opens up a new way for the development of next-generation non-volatile memory devices.