A Study on the influence of different HTL and ETL layers on the performance of a P3HTI $$C_{60}$$ BA bulk heterojunction organic solar cell

Abstract

In photovoltaic research, bulk heterojunction organic solar cells have garnered significant interest as light harvesters. This increased attention underscores the importance of advance research in organic solar cell development. The present study considers an organic bulk heterojunction solar cell with P3HT:IC\(_{60}\)BA as the active layer. Simulation studies are conducted using SCAPS 1D software. Initially, the software is standardized by comparing the experimental data of the solar cell structure, ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:IC\(_{60}\)BA/ZnONPS/Al with the simulated characteristics of the solar cell. Subsequently simulation research is done to evaluate the impact of different hole transport layers (HTL) and electron transport layers (ETL) on device performance.The HTL materials considered in this study include PEDOT:PSS, CuI, and Cu\(_{2}O\) while the ETL materials include ZnO NPs, Sn\(O_{2}\), Ti\(O_{2}\), IGZO and PCBM. According to the results, the cell structure employing Cu\(_{2}O\) as the HTL and IGZO as the ETL performed better than all other combinations. The cell structure is further optimized to analyze the impact of material parameters on device performance.