Integration of Conductive SnO₂ in Binary Organic Solar Cells with Fine-Tuned Nanostructured D18:L8-BO with Low Energy...

Enhancing the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs) is essential for achieving sustainability in energy production. This study presents an innovative strategy that involves fine-tuning the thickness of the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) photoactive layer at the nanoscale to improve efficiency. The organic blend D18:L8-BO is utilized to capture a wide range of photons while addressing the challenge of minimizing optical losses from low-energy photons. The research incorporates SnO₂ and ZnO as electron transport layers (ETLs), with PMMA functioning as a hole transport layer (HTL). A comprehensive analysis of photon absorption, charge carrier generation, localized energy fluctuations, and thermal stability reveals their critical role in enhancing the efficiency of D18:L8-BO active films. Notably, introducing SnO₂ as an ETL significantly decreased losses and modified localized energy, achieving an impressive efficiency of 19.85% at an optimized blend thickness of 50 nm with low voltage loss (ΔV_oc) of 0.4 V within a J_sc of 28 mA cm^-2 by performing an optoelectronic simulation employing "Oghma-Nano 8.1.015" software. In addition, the SnO₂-based structure conserved 88% of the PCE at 350 K compared to room temperature PCE, which describes the high thermal stability of this structure. These results demonstrate the potential of this methodology in improving the performance of OSCs.