Tetraphenylphosphonium Bromide as a Cathode Buffer Layer Material for Highly Efficient Polymer Solar Cells

Here, we introduced the role of small organic molecule tetraphenylphosphonium bromide (QPhPBr) as an electron-transporting layer (ETL) material for fabricating high-efficiency bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells (PSCs). Their significantly higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) in well-known active layer devices (PTB7-Th:PC₇₁BM, PBDTTT-CT:PC₇₁BM, and P3HT:PC₇₁BM) was observed compared to that of the bare Al cathode. The use of N719 as an ETL was also demonstrated. Observed data reveal that QPhPBr-based devices exhibit high PCEs up to 9.18, 8.42, and 4.81% from PTB7-Th, PBDTTT-CT, and P3HT, respectively. For comparisons, the bare Al devices show PCEs of 5.37, 4.75, and 3.01%, respectively. Moreover, further enhancement of PSC efficiency (9.83, 8.69, and 5.35%) is achieved from mixed binary solution of N719:QPhPBr because of modulated adjustment of the work function of the Al electrode. Our results indicate the excellent function of tetraphenylphosphonium bromide and its binary blend as effective small-molecule organic materials to regulate the metal surface properties and the potential used as excellent cathode buffer layer materials for realizing high-efficiency PSCs.