Performance enhancement by vertical morphology alteration of the active layer in organic solar cells

Bulk heterojunction organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted worldwide attention due to their great potential as a green, flexible and low-cost renewable energy source. A vertical configuration in the active layer due to the aggregation of donor and acceptor molecules and the influence on the performance of OSCs deserve an in-depth study. In this study, five different vertical configurations of the active layer in OSCs were built up. The absorbance and indexes of the devices were theoretically analyzed. It was found that the configuration with the donor and acceptor molecules distributed equally exhibits the highest power conversion efficiency, followed by the configuration with the donor closer to the anode and the acceptor closer to the cathode, which matches experimental results well. Further analyses present the recombination, resistance, quantum efficiency and current leakage of all the configurations. It is anticipated that our results will promote the better understanding and development of the OSC field.