Photovoltaic characterization of hybrid solar cells using surface modified TiO2 nanoparticles and poly(3-hexyl)thiophene

Abstract

We report on the photovoltaic performance of bulk heterojunction solar cells using novel nanoparticles of 6-palmitate ascorbic acid surface modified TiO2 as an electron acceptor embedded into the donor poly(3-hexyl)thiophene (P3HT) matrix. Devices were fabricated by using P3HT with varying amounts of red TiO2 nanoparticles (1:1, 1:2, 1:3 w-w ratio). The devices were characterized by measuring current-voltage characteristics under simulated AM 1.5 conditions. Incident photon to current efficiency (IPCE) was spectrally resolved. The nanoscale morphology of such organic/inorganic hybrid blends was also investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM).