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Organic Electronics 126 (2024) 106995

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Organic Electronics
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/orgel

A simple approach for improving the photovoltaic efficiency of organic


solar cells through polymer modification via anion exchange as
the interlayer
Rahmatia Fitri Binti Nasrun a, b, Dong Hwan Son a, b, Joo Hyun Kim a, b, *
a
Department of Polymer Engineering, Pukyong National University, Busan 48513, South Korea
b
CECS Research Institute, Core Research Institute, Busan 48513, South Korea

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: A simple anion exchange was used to synthesize polyelectrolytes based on naphthalene diimide (NDI), which
Organic solar cell were then applied as a cathode interlayer in organic solar cells (OSCs). These polyelectrolytes can be dissolved in
Anion exchange alcohols and produce a beneficial interface dipole due to the ionic functionality in the side chain. The PCE of the
Polyelectrolytes
OSC utilizing PFN-NDI-OH as the cathode interlayer showed an enhancement compared to the pristine ZnO-
Cathode interlayer
based device, increasing from 8.79 % to 8.91 %. This improvement can be attributed to the polar nature of
PFN-NDI-OH, which facilitates a strong adhesion between the inorganic metal oxide and the organic active layer.
The device with PFN-NDI-OTs exhibited an enhanced PCE of up to 9.41 % due to the size of the counteranion was
found to be related to the PCE, as converting the hydroxide to a tosylate anion increased the PCE, with the larger
size of the tosylate anion playing a role in enhancing the Jsc . These results indicate that these polyelectrolytes are
a promising candidate for use as a cathode interlayer in OSCs, with the additional advantage of being able to
improve interfacial properties through a simple anion exchange process without time-consuming purification
steps.

1. Introduction The introduction of polyelectrolytes as the cathode interlayer has


gained significant attention in modifying the interface to improve the
The low cost and ability to print on various substrates make organic ability to collect charges at the cathode interface [19,27]. The poly­
solar cells (OSCs) an attractive source of clean energy, with power electrolytes are formed with the introduction of an ionic moiety at the
conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of nearly 20 % [1–6]. These enhance­ polymer side chain, which results in the polyelectrolytes being soluble in
ments have been accomplished by the design of a highly efficient donor alcohol [28]. The presence of electric charges on the ionic moiety in
and acceptor, improving the surface of the photoactive layer, and polyelectrolytes offers a straightforward way to fine-tune the in­
enhancing the interface properties at the electrode [7–13]. teractions between molecules within the polymer and modify its optical
Improving the interface of organic solar cells (OSCs) is crucial to properties [29]. Additionally, incorporating organic electrolytes that
enhance their efficiency [14–17]. Hence, researchers have conducted can form hydrogen bonds to alcoholic solvents can increase the
substantial research to enhance interfacial characteristics by intro­ magnitude of the dipole at the interface [30–32]. According to previous
ducing a cathode interlayer. These layers can balance the carrier reports, polyelectrolytes have the ability to form hydrogen bonds and
collection capability, which results in improved performance and sta­ can be effectively used as an interlayer at the cathode, particularly with
bility of the devices [18–24]. Inserting interlayers in organic solar cells fullerene-based solar cells [33–35].
(OSCs) can reduce the interface barrier and prevent the recombination Various types of anions can easily be achieved by using a simple
of charge, resulting in improved hole/electron collection capability. anion exchange process [33,36–38]. Anion exchange of polymers was
Therefore, the photovoltaic properties can be enhanced in terms of its simple and high-purity material was obtained without time-consuming
short-circuit current density (Jsc ), open-circuit voltage (Voc ), and fill purification steps. In this work, polyelectrolytes based on dimethyl
factor (FF) [25,26]. aminopropyl fluorene and naphthalene diimide with hydroxide and

* Corresponding author. Department of Polymer Engineering, Pukyong National University, Busan 48513, South Korea.
E-mail address: jkim@pknu.ac.kr (J.H. Kim).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgel.2024.106995
Received 18 October 2023; Received in revised form 29 December 2023; Accepted 6 January 2024
Available online 11 January 2024
1566-1199/© 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
R.F.B. Nasrun et al. Organic Electronics 126 (2024) 106995

tosylate anion (Fig. 1 and Scheme S1) were synthesized to evaluate the acid–base reaction product.
effect of CA modification. This study presents a simple, general, and The ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectrophotometry was carried out
efficient ion exchange process to modify conjugated polymers, which do to investigate the optical characteristics of PFN-NDI and polyelectrolyte,
not require halogenated solvents. The incorporation of the hydroxide as illustrated in Fig. 2. The absorption spectrum showed two wide ab­
anion produces beneficial outcomes due to its polar characteristics, sorption bands. The first one observed between 350 and 450 nm
facilitating the creation of a strongly adhered layer between the elec­ correlated to the π–π* transition of the backbone, while the second band
trodes and the active layer. Upon doping, it will regulate the work ranging from 450 to 550 nm represents the intramolecular charge
function of the cathode and due to its band edge positions, it will effi­ transfer (ICT) between the fluorene group and the naphthalene diimide
ciently transport electrons while partially impeding the movement of moiety. PFN-NDI-OTs is slightly red-shifted and showed broad peaks
holes [39]. Conversion to tosylate anion can improve the collection of compared to PFN-NDI-OH. The broadening of the absorption bands in
charge at the electrode interface since the size of CA can affect the the solid state is beneficial for photovoltaic use and is mostly due to the
photovoltaic properties. It has been reported that the PCE of OSCs solid-state aggregation phenomena [36]. The optical band gaps of the
gradually enhanced with the larger size of the counter anion (CA) in the polyelectrolytes were evaluated from the absorption onset, which is 1.65
polyelectrolytes [34]. The van der Waals radii of hydroxide and tosylate and 1.63 eV for PFN-NDI-OH and PFN-NDI-OTs, respectively. The
anion are 0.11 and 0.32 nm, respectively. The dipole moment of the reduced optical band gap in the solid state of PFN-NDI-OTs was observed
compound comprising two point charges is proportional to the distance due to the extension of the absorbance spectrum toward a longer
between the two charges such that the dipole moment of the thin layer of wavelength.
polyelectrolytes on the cathode will be in the order PFN-NDI-OH < The cyclic voltammetry (Fig. S8) was used to determine the onset
PFN-NDI-OTs. The larger counteranion leads to a larger interface dipole potential of oxidation and reduction, which were used to calculate the
(i.e., a larger reduction in the effective WF) [40]. Therefore, the devices highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied
were able to attain a PCE of 9.41 % owing to the development of a molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels of the polymers. The HOMO and
beneficial interfacial dipole. LUMO energies of PFN-NDI-OH were found to be − 5.57 and − 3.50 eV,
respectively. The HOMO and LUMO levels of PFN-NDI-OTs were also
2. Results and discussion found to be similar, with values of − 5.57 and − 3.51 eV, respectively.
The relative HOMO and LUMO energies of the backbone are unaffected
2.1. Synthesis and characterization of materials

The synthesis route of materials is illustrated in Scheme S1 and


additional information on experimental procedures and characteriza­
tion of materials can be found in the supporting information. The
Amberlite IRN-78 (nuclear grade, OH− form) anion exchange resin was
selected, as it allows for a one-step ion exchange method that eliminates
the need for additional purification steps. The styrene-divinylbenzene
copolymer matrix crosslinked with a quaternary ammonia group from
the anion exchange resin was functionalized to obtain PFN-NDI-OH by
binding bromide ions. The conversion of the hydroxide to tosylate anion
involves an acid-base reaction, which produces water as a by-product.
This is followed by methanol treatment, and the reaction is driven by
the principle of “Hard and Soft Lewis Acids and Bases”. The ion ex­
change conducted in this research is quantitative, and the pure com­
pounds are acquired by evaporating all volatile compounds. The
compounds were analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
spectroscopy (Figs. S1–S6) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)
(Fig. S7). As demonstrated in Fig. S7, peaks at the binding energies (BEs)
of 68 eV and 183 eV correspond to Br 3d and Br 3p, respectively. The Br
3d peak did not appear in the survey spectrum of PFN-NDI-OH. Thus, the
survey spectrum confirmed that the PFN-NDI-Br was completely
changed to PFN-NDI-OH. We can also observe the S 2p (166 eV) in the Fig. 2. The spectrum of absorption in the UV–Visible regions of poly­
survey spectrum of PFN-NDI-OTs, which confirmed the presence of the electrolyte films.

Fig. 1. Chemical structure of polymers.

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R.F.B. Nasrun et al. Organic Electronics 126 (2024) 106995

by the counteranion [36]. (Fig. 4a). The current density-voltage (J − V) curves of the devices under
1.0 sun and dark conditions are presented in Fig. 4b and c, while Table 1
presents a summary of the photovoltaic characteristics.
2.2. Characterization of coated-ZnO with polyelectrolyte
The device incorporating PFN-NDI-OH showed a higher PCE of 8.91
% in contrast to the ZnO-only based device (8.79 %) as a result of the
A measurement using Kelvin probe microscopy was carried out to
polar nature of PFN-NDI-OH, which enables the formation of a great
investigate the effect of polyelectrolytes on the work function (WF) of
adhesion layer between the inorganic metal oxide and the organic active
ZnO (as shown in Fig. 3a). It is noteworthy that achieving good energy
layer [39]. It is known that the interfacial dipole can be strengthened by
level alignment between the interlayer and the acceptor is especially
the presence of hydroxide anions [33,37]. This phenomenon is typical
crucial [33]. The measured WF values for ZnO/PFN-NDI-OH and
for polar/ionic organic semiconductors interlayers, and it is caused by
ZnO/PFN-NDI-OTs were − 4.20 and − 4.11 eV, respectively. The initial
the ionic groups of PFN-NDI-OH, which generate dipoles at the interface
WF value of ZnO was − 4.4 eV, higher than those of ZnO/polyelec­
resulting in a WF shift of the ZnO layer [33]. The PFN-NDI-OTs-based
trolytes. The incorporation of an interlayer created an interfacial dipole
device demonstrated the Jsc of 17.5 mA cm− 2, Voc of 0.81 V, and FF of
that caused a shift in the WF at the surface of ZnO [41]. An ideal cathode
66.3 %, resulting in a PCE of 9.41 %. The increase in the PCE indicates a
interfacial material should be able to yield favorable interfacial dipoles
connection between device efficiency and the size of the anion [41]. The
to set off a vacuum-level shift to reduce the WF of the cathode and make
increase in the size of the CA in polyelectrolytes was found to have a
it a better match with the LUMO energy level of the n-type active ma­
positive correlation with the gradual increase in PCE [43,46]. It should
terial [42]. Previous research has shown that the WF at the interface
be noted that the primary reason for the highest PCE exhibited from the
reduces with an increase in the size of the CA [43]. With an increase in
device with PFN-NDI-OTs was the improvement in Jsc . The trend of Jsc
the CA size, both the intensity of the interface dipole and its impact on
was found to corresponds with the WF shift of the ZnO layer. When Jsc
the PCE of the device rise. These findings indicate that the larger tosylate
rises, it indicates transition from a Schottky barrier to an Ohmic contact,
anion has a significant impact on the interfacial dipole, causing a
which is associated with changes in the WF as shown in Fig. 3a. Thus, to
decrease in the work function of the electrode.
achieve high Jsc , it is necessary to minimize the Schottky barrier at the
In order to examine the surface wettability of ZnO with poly­
interface and achieve Ohmic contact [47]. Additionally, the accuracy of
electrolytes, the water contact angle (WCA) was measured (Fig. 3b). The
the PCE measurements was verified by examining the spectrum of
ZnO surfaces with PFN-NDI-OH and PFN-NDI-OTs showed a WCA of
incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) in Fig. 4d. The
37.3 and 39.6◦ , respectively, which were greater than that of the ZnO
Jsc value derived from the IPCE spectrum is consistent with the values
without polyelectrolytes (29.1◦ ). This is attributed to the greater hy­
acquired from the measurement of PCE.
drophobicity of the ZnO surface with polyelectrolytes compared to that
To study the effect of photo-degradation on charge transport, the
of ZnO. PFN-NDI-OH coated ZnO exhibited a lower WCA than that of
electron mobility (μe ) and hole mobility (μh ) are evaluated by the space
PFN-NDI-OTs coated ZnO due to its higher hydrophilicity. The best
charge limited current (SCLC) method. The electron-only devices were
contact angle resulted in better contact between the ZnO/poly­
fabricated with ITO/ZnO with or without polyelectrolyte/PC71BM/Al
electrolyte and the active layer, which can be ascribed to the modifi­
structure to examine the electron mobilities (μe ). The μe of the devices
cation of the interface with the polyelectrolyte layer [44].
were determined using the Mott-Gurney equation through the imple­
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was carried out to examine the
mentation of the space-charge-limited current (SCLC) model [48].
morphologies of both bare ZnO and ZnO with polyelectrolytes (Fig. S9).
Fig. S10 demonstrated that the current density and electric field beyond
ZnO/PFN-NDI-OH and ZnO/PFN-NDI-OTs exhibited root-mean-square
the built-in voltage exhibit the typical properties associated with SCLC.
(RMS) roughness values of 1.4 and 1.1 nm, respectively. Apparently,
The devices utilizing PFN-NDI-OH and PFN-NDI-OTs demonstrate μe of
the ZnO with polyelectrolytes exhibited a higher RMS roughness than
that of bare ZnO (0.8 nm) due to there being many aggregates found on 3.65 × 10− 4 and 4.00 × 10− 4 cm− 2 V− 1 s− 1, respectively. The μe of the
the surface. The smallest RMS roughness value represents the least OSCs based on polyelectrolytes were found to be slightly higher
pinholes in the film, indicating fewer traps in the interlayer and compared to those based on pristine ZnO (3.57 × 10− 4 cm− 2 V− 1 s− 1).
contributing to the good interface contact with the active layer [45]. This slight increase in μe can be attributed to the enhanced cathode
modification capability of the polyelectrolytes, which is consistent with
the Jsc trend observed in the devices [32]. The hole-only devices were
2.3. Photovoltaic properties of OSCs fabricated with ITO/PEDOT:PSS with or without poly­
electrolyte/PTB7-Th:PC71BM/MoO3/Ag structure to examine the hole
To assess the photovoltaic properties, OSCs with the structure of mobilities (μh ) and the result were illustrated in Fig. S11. The devices
ITO/cathode interlayer/PTB7-Th:PC71BM/MoO3/Ag were fabricated

Fig. 3. (a) Diagram of energy level and (b) the contact angle measurement for different interlayers.

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R.F.B. Nasrun et al. Organic Electronics 126 (2024) 106995

Fig. 4. (a) Device architecture of the inverted structure, (b) J-V curves of OSCs under 1.0 sun, (c) under the dark condition, and (d) IPCE spectrum with calculated Jsc .

Table 1
The photovoltaic characteristics of organic solar cells (OSCs) based on interlayers. The values shown in brackets represent the average values, which were obtained by
averaging the results of 10 devices.
Interlayer Jsc (mA/cm2) V oc (V) FF (%) PCE (%) Rs (Ωcm2) Rsh (kΩcm2) Calculated Jsc (mA/cm2)

ZnO 16.41 (16.37 ± 0.08) 0.79 (0.79 ± 0.00) 67.9 (67.23 ± 0.61) 8.79 (8.69 ± 0.11) 3.29 2.04 15.35
ZnO/PFN-NDI-OH 16.67 (16.49 ± 0.15) 0.81 (0.81 ± 0.01) 66.0 (66.20 ± 0.40) 8.91 (8.81 ± 0.08) 3.21 1.23 15.62
ZnO/PFN-NDI-OTs 17.52 (16.66 ± 0.62) 0.81 (0.81 ± 0.00) 66.3 (66.63 ± 0.69) 9.41 (8.99 ± 0.28) 1.53 1.81 16.82

utilizing PFN-NDI-OH and PFN-NDI-OTs demonstrate μh of 2.93 × 10− 4 (Rsh ) values than the ZnO-only based device (2.04 kΩcm2). The devices
and 3.30 × 10− 4 cm− 2 V− 1 s− 1, respectively. The μh of the OSCs based on with PFN-NDI-OH and PFN-NDI-OTs exhibit the Rsh values of 1.23 and
polyelectrolytes were found to be slightly higher compared to those 1.81 kΩcm2, respectively. The Rsh values correspond to the FF values of
based on pristine ZnO (2.83 × 10− 4 cm− 2 V− 1 s− 1). The ratio of the device. When an interlayer was introduced, the FF values decreased
electron-hole mobilities of ZnO, ZnO/PFN-NDI-OH, and compared to the device based on pristine ZnO. This suggests the po­
ZnO/PFN-NDI-OTs were 1.26, 1.24, and 1.21, respectively. It was found tential presence of leakage current in the device when the polymer is
that the ratio of electron–hole mobility of the devices with poly­ used as the interlayer [50–52]. Despite having a lower Rsh value
electrolytes was closer to 1, which is beneficial for charge transport and compared to the ZnO-only based device, the device with an interlayer
thus high performances [49]. demonstrates improved Jsc , which primarily contributes to enhancing
Under the illumination, the value of series resistance (Rs ) was the overall PCE.
determined by analyzing the slope of the J − V curve in the high current The correlation of effective voltage (Veff ) with photocurrent density
regime. The devices with PFN-NDI-OH and PFN-NDI-OTs showed lower (Jph ) was analyzed to determine how the charges were transported and
values of Rs compared to the device that had only pristine ZnO (3.29 collected on the devices. Fig. 5 displays a linear relationship between the
Ωcm2), which are 3.21 and 1.53 Ωcm2, respectively. The thin layer of log (Jph ) vs. log (Veff ) with a low Veff range, which starts saturating at
polyelectrolytes causes a transition from Schottky barrier to Ohmic high Veff region. The Veff values in the saturated photocurrent region
contact at the cathode interface, which leads to a reduction in the value (Vsat ) based on PFN-NDI-OH and PFN-NDI-OTs were 0.30 and 0.24 V,
of Rs . The device with polyelectrolytes exhibits lower shunt resistance respectively, which were lower than the pristine ZnO-based device

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Fig. 5. Plots of photocurrent density vs. effective voltage (Jph-Veff) character­ Fig. 6. Light intensity dependence of Jsc with different cathode interlayers.
istics of the device with interlayers.
band-to-band recombination is dominant, the n is 1, while a n of 2 in­
(0.32 V). The obtained result is consistent with the trend observed in the dicates the occurrence of the Shockley-Read-Hall recombination. The
Jsc and PCE. A smaller Vsat implies a faster shift from the space-charge- device based on pristine ZnO exhibited a n value of 1.397. The devices
limited to the saturation region. with ZnO/PFN-NDI-OH and ZnO/PFN-NDI-OTs showed n values of
At higher values of Veff , certain factors such as the maximum exciton 1.176 and 1.071, respectively. This indicates that polyelectrolytes
generation rate (Gmax ), the exciton dissociation probability, charge effectively reduce the presence of traps. Furthermore, it is important to
mobility, and collection probability are correlated to the saturation analyze the n values as they exhibit a similar trend to the PCE value [32].
current density (Jsat ). The Gmax value equals to Jph /q⋅L, where L repre­ Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were
sents the active layer thickness and q represents the elementary charge. conducted to comprehend the charge transport and recombination
The Gmax value of the pristine ZnO was 1.58 × 1028 m− 3 s− 1 and the Gmax process. The EIS spectrum was analyzed based on the Gerischer
values exhibited from the device with ZnO/PFN-NDI-OH and ZnO/PFN- impedance model to study intense recombination and recombination
NDI-OTs devices under the Jsat condition were 1.60 × 1028 and 1.68 × resistance (Rrec ) was determined by data fitting. The EIS spectrum in­
1028 m− 3 s− 1, respectively. The findings indicate that there is a rela­ dicates a semi-circle without a transmission line, which suggests that
tionship between the trend observed in Jsc and Gmax . Furthermore, the large recombination has taken place in the devices. The Nyquist plots in
probability of exciton dissociation at the stage of Jsat was determined by Fig. 7 depict the electrochemical steps with varying time constants as
the ratio of Jph /Jsat at any Veff (Fig. S12). The exciton dissociation semicircles. A larger EIS semicircle indicates a higher Rrec , which cor­
probabilities of the devices with ZnO, ZnO/PFN-NDI-OH, and ZnO/PFN- relates with the charges collection at the ZnO interface.
NDI-OTs as the cathode interlayer at the Jsc condition were 91.9 %, 87.2 The Rrec values were determined for the devices with ZnO, PFN-NDI-
%, 91.1 %, respectively. It implies that there is a charge recombination OH, and PFN-NDI-OTs at zero bias, and were found to be 201, 503, and
reduction and an enhancement in charge collection at the cathode
interfaces.
The dependence of Jsc and Voc on light intensity (Plight ) was measured
through Jsc vs. Plight and the Voc vs. Plight curves to examine charge carrier
recombination (Fig. 6). The equation Jsc ∝(Plight )α can explain the cor­
relation between Jsc and Plight , where the α value tends to approach 1
when there is negligible bimolecular charge recombination [53]. The α
value for the pristine ZnO-based device was found to be 0.928. On the
other hand, the devices based on ZnO/PFN-NDI-OH and
ZnO/PFN-NDI-OTs showed α values of 0.953 and 0.993, respectively.
The results suggest that the devices that include polyelectrolyte in­
terlayers hinder the development of bimolecular recombination by
reducing the space charge at the interfaces [32].
Comprehending the recombination mechanism is vital for enhancing
Jsc and thus increasing the performance of solar cells, as recombination
leads to the depletion of photogenerated charge carriers. The Shockley-
Read-Hall mechanism, also referred to as trap-assisted recombination, is
a recombination process that takes place when trap states occur within
the bandgap [54]. The slope of the Voc vs. Plight curve points out the
trap-assisted recombination and are shown in Fig. S13 [55]. The rela­
tionship between Voc and Plight is used to calculate n (ideality factor)
which explained by Voc ∝nkB T/q ln Plight , where kB is Boltzmann constant,
T is the temperature, and q is the elementary charge [55]. When Fig. 7. Electrochemical impedance spectrum of the devices with different in­
terlayers at zero bias.

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