Efficient polymer solar cells with a solution-processed gold chloride as an anode interfacial modifier

Abstract

The use of a solution-processed gold chloride (AuCl3) as an anode interfacial modifier was investigated for high-performance polymer solar cells (PSCs). Kelvin probe, 4-point probe, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies demonstrated that AuCl3 increases the indium-tin-oxide (ITO) work-function and decreases the ITO sheet resistance, because of Au nanoparticle formation and Cl adsorption by the AuCl3 treatment to induce a p-doping effect, thereby improving the built-in potential and interface resistance. As a result, the introduction of AuCl3 by simple solution processing remarkably improved cell-performances, indicating that AuCl3 is an efficient anode interfacial modifier for enhancing PSC-performance. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4803039]