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P-N junction

P-N junction

A p-n junction is formed when p-type and n-type semiconductor materials are joined together. At the interface of the p-n junction, holes from the p-side and electrons from the n-side begin to diffuse into the opposite sides due to the concentration gradient. This diffusion of carriers leads to a region around the junction where there are no free charge carriers, known as the depletion region. The charge density within the depletion region for the n-side and p-side can be described by the...

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Updated: Apr 5, 2026

Morphology Control for Fully Printable Organic–Inorganic Bulk-heterojunction Solar Cells Based on a Ti-alkoxide and Semiconducting Polymer

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Published on: January 10, 2017

Enhanced Power-Conversion Efficiency in Inverted Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells using Liquid-Crystal-Conjugated

Chao Liu¹, Yun Tan¹, Chunquan Li²

¹College of Chemistry/Institute of Polymers, Nanchang University , 999 Xuefu Avenue, Nanchang 330031, China.

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

|August 18, 2015

Summary

Novel liquid-crystal-conjugated polyelectrolytes enhance polymer solar cell efficiency by improving energy-level alignment and charge transport. These materials offer solution processability, boosting power conversion efficiency in devices.

Keywords:

conjugated polyelectrolytes interfacial modification inverted devices liquid crystal polymer solar cells

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Polycrystalline Silicon Thin-film Solar cells with Plasmonic-enhanced Light-trapping

Polycrystalline Silicon Thin-film Solar cells with Plasmonic-enhanced Light-trapping

Published on: July 2, 2012

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Organic Electronics
Polymer Chemistry

Background:

Developing efficient and stable polymer solar cells (PSCs) is crucial for renewable energy.
Interface engineering plays a key role in optimizing charge dynamics and device performance in PSCs.
Existing interfacial layers often face challenges in energy-level alignment and charge extraction.

Purpose of the Study:

To synthesize and investigate novel liquid-crystal-conjugated polyelectrolytes (LCCPEs) for improved PSC performance.
To explore the impact of LCCPEs on interfacial properties and morphology of the active layer.
To enhance the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of inverted PSCs using LCCPE-based interlayers.

Main Methods:

Covalent linkage of cyanobiphenyl mesogen polar groups onto conjugated polyelectrolytes to create LCCPEs.
Deposition of LCCPE layers on ZnO interlayers in inverted PSC architectures.
Fabrication and characterization of PSCs utilizing poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):[6,6]-phenyl-C60-butyric acid methyl ester (PC60BM) and PTB7:[6,6]-phenyl C70-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) active layers.

Main Results:

Spontaneous orientation of LCCPEs induced dipole moment rearrangement, leading to better energy-level alignment at the ZnO interface.
LCCPEs promoted intimate interfacial contact and induced active layer nanofibers, enhancing charge extraction, transportation, and collection.
ZnO/PF6Ncbp and ZnO/PF6lmicbp interlayers boosted PCE to 3.9% and 4.2% in P3HT:PC60BM PSCs, respectively.
ZnO/PF6lmicbp incorporation achieved a notable 7.6% PCE in PTB7:PC71BM-based PSCs.

Conclusions:

LCCPEs are effective interfacial materials for enhancing PSC performance through improved energy-level alignment and morphology control.
The water/alcohol solubility of LCCPEs enables environmentally friendly solvent processing.
These novel LCCPEs represent a promising strategy for developing next-generation high-efficiency polymer solar cells.