Impact of solvent on the solution-processed hole transport layer deposition in organic solar cells
Recently, the solution-processed copper[I] iodide (CuI) thin film deposition has been identified as an important hole transport layer (HTL) in excitonic solar cells. Further, we explored the potential of CuI as an efficient HTL and introduced a range of solvents compatible with CuI for the preparati...
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Elsevier
2025-07-01
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| author | Neeraj Chaudhary Rashi Kedia Manisha Khatak Manisha Balkhandia Asit Patra |
| author_facet | Neeraj Chaudhary Rashi Kedia Manisha Khatak Manisha Balkhandia Asit Patra |
| author_sort | Neeraj Chaudhary |
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| description | Recently, the solution-processed copper[I] iodide (CuI) thin film deposition has been identified as an important hole transport layer (HTL) in excitonic solar cells. Further, we explored the potential of CuI as an efficient HTL and introduced a range of solvents compatible with CuI for the preparation of organic solar cells. This work investigates the impact of various solvent on physical properties of CuI. Eight solvents namely; cyclohexane, carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), benzene, tetrahydrofuran, dichloromethane, acetonitrile, dimethoxy sulfoxide (DMSO) and water (H2O) were selected for density functional calculations and for that purpose we used the basis set B3LYP/3-21 g to access the impact of solvents on energy levels, charge distribution and atomic distance within CuI. Based on the computational results, hydrophilic organic solvents DMSO along with N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), and diisopropyl sulphide (DPS) were chosen to dissolve CuI for the solution-processed HTL. The HTL formed from these three solvents were analysed using UV–vis–NIR spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope (SEM) to get the better understanding of their electrical, optical and morphological behaviour. To evaluate the effectiveness of this HTL material employing different solvents, two active layers PTB7:PC71BM and PCDTBT:PC71BM were tested with the device configuration ITO/CuI/active layer/Al. Our results indicate that the choice of solvent for the HTL deposition significantly influence the photovoltaic performance with DMSO as a solvent achieving the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ̴ 4.28 % in this particular case for CuI which is due to the more crystalline film yielded with DMSO under ambient conditions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a3eb38199dda4a54ab874e25b5d44b97 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2949-8228 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
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| series | Next Materials |
| spelling | doaj-art-a3eb38199dda4a54ab874e25b5d44b972025-08-20T02:11:54ZengElsevierNext Materials2949-82282025-07-01810063710.1016/j.nxmate.2025.100637Impact of solvent on the solution-processed hole transport layer deposition in organic solar cellsNeeraj Chaudhary0Rashi Kedia1Manisha Khatak2Manisha Balkhandia3Asit Patra4Photovoltaic Metrology Section, Advanced Material and Device Metrology Division, CSR-National Physical Laboratory, Dr K. S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi 110012, IndiaPhotovoltaic Metrology Section, Advanced Material and Device Metrology Division, CSR-National Physical Laboratory, Dr K. S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi 110012, IndiaPhotovoltaic Metrology Section, Advanced Material and Device Metrology Division, CSR-National Physical Laboratory, Dr K. S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi 110012, IndiaPhotovoltaic Metrology Section, Advanced Material and Device Metrology Division, CSR-National Physical Laboratory, Dr K. S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi 110012, IndiaCorresponding author.; Photovoltaic Metrology Section, Advanced Material and Device Metrology Division, CSR-National Physical Laboratory, Dr K. S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi 110012, IndiaRecently, the solution-processed copper[I] iodide (CuI) thin film deposition has been identified as an important hole transport layer (HTL) in excitonic solar cells. Further, we explored the potential of CuI as an efficient HTL and introduced a range of solvents compatible with CuI for the preparation of organic solar cells. This work investigates the impact of various solvent on physical properties of CuI. Eight solvents namely; cyclohexane, carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), benzene, tetrahydrofuran, dichloromethane, acetonitrile, dimethoxy sulfoxide (DMSO) and water (H2O) were selected for density functional calculations and for that purpose we used the basis set B3LYP/3-21 g to access the impact of solvents on energy levels, charge distribution and atomic distance within CuI. Based on the computational results, hydrophilic organic solvents DMSO along with N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), and diisopropyl sulphide (DPS) were chosen to dissolve CuI for the solution-processed HTL. The HTL formed from these three solvents were analysed using UV–vis–NIR spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope (SEM) to get the better understanding of their electrical, optical and morphological behaviour. To evaluate the effectiveness of this HTL material employing different solvents, two active layers PTB7:PC71BM and PCDTBT:PC71BM were tested with the device configuration ITO/CuI/active layer/Al. Our results indicate that the choice of solvent for the HTL deposition significantly influence the photovoltaic performance with DMSO as a solvent achieving the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ̴ 4.28 % in this particular case for CuI which is due to the more crystalline film yielded with DMSO under ambient conditions.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949822825001558CuIComputational studiesSolution-processableHole transport materialThin film depositionSolvent effect |
| spellingShingle | Neeraj Chaudhary Rashi Kedia Manisha Khatak Manisha Balkhandia Asit Patra Impact of solvent on the solution-processed hole transport layer deposition in organic solar cells Next Materials CuI Computational studies Solution-processable Hole transport material Thin film deposition Solvent effect |
| title | Impact of solvent on the solution-processed hole transport layer deposition in organic solar cells |
| title_full | Impact of solvent on the solution-processed hole transport layer deposition in organic solar cells |
| title_fullStr | Impact of solvent on the solution-processed hole transport layer deposition in organic solar cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of solvent on the solution-processed hole transport layer deposition in organic solar cells |
| title_short | Impact of solvent on the solution-processed hole transport layer deposition in organic solar cells |
| title_sort | impact of solvent on the solution processed hole transport layer deposition in organic solar cells |
| topic | CuI Computational studies Solution-processable Hole transport material Thin film deposition Solvent effect |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949822825001558 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT neerajchaudhary impactofsolventonthesolutionprocessedholetransportlayerdepositioninorganicsolarcells AT rashikedia impactofsolventonthesolutionprocessedholetransportlayerdepositioninorganicsolarcells AT manishakhatak impactofsolventonthesolutionprocessedholetransportlayerdepositioninorganicsolarcells AT manishabalkhandia impactofsolventonthesolutionprocessedholetransportlayerdepositioninorganicsolarcells AT asitpatra impactofsolventonthesolutionprocessedholetransportlayerdepositioninorganicsolarcells |