Use of the Phen-NaDPO:Sn(SCN) 2 Blend as Electron Transport Layer Results to Consistent Efficiency Improvements in Organic and Hybrid Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract
A simple approach that enables a consistent enhancement of the electron extracting properties of the widely used small-molecule Phen-NaDPO and its application in organic solar cells (OSCs) is reported. It is shown that addition of minute amounts of the inorganic molecule Sn(SCN)2 into Phen-NaDPO improves both the electron transport and its film-forming properties. Use of Phen-NaDPO:Sn(SCN)2 blend as the electron transport layer (ETL) in binary PM6:IT-4F OSCs leads to a remarkable increase in the cells' power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 12.6% (Phen-NaDPO) to 13.5% (Phen-NaDPO:Sn(SCN)2). Combining the hybrid ETL with the best-in-class organic ternary PM6:Y6:PC70BM systems results to a similarly remarkable PCE increase from 14.2% (Phen-NaDPO) to 15.6% (Phen-NaDPO:Sn(SCN)2). The consistent PCE enhancement is attributed to reduced trap-assisted carrier recombination at the bulk-heterojunction/ETL interface due to the presence of new energy states formed upon chemical interaction of Phen-NaDPO with Sn(SCN)2. The versatility of this hybrid ETL is further demonstrated with its application in perovskite solar cells for which an increase in the PCE from 16.6% to 18.2% is also demonstrated.

Citation
Seitkhan, A., Neophytou, M., Kirkus, M., Abou-Hamad, E., Hedhili, M. N., Yengel, E., … Anthopoulos, T. D. (2019). Use of the Phen-NaDPO:Sn(SCN) 2 Blend as Electron Transport Layer Results to Consistent Efficiency Improvements in Organic and Hybrid Perovskite Solar Cells. Advanced Functional Materials, 1905810. doi:10.1002/adfm.201905810

Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) for the financial support. L.T. acknowledges support for the computational time granted from GRNET in the National HPC facility–ARIS– under Project STEM-2.

Publisher
Wiley

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials

DOI
10.1002/adfm.201905810

Additional Links
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adfm.201905810

Permanent link to this record