Power conversion efficiency enhancement of polymer solar cells by incorporation of gold nanoparticles

We have performed the incorporation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with different concentration and morphology into anode buffer layer of poly [[4,8-bis[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy]benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b'] dithiophene -2, 6-diyl] [3-fluoro-2- [(2-ethylhexy) carbonyl] thieno [3,4-b]thiophened iyl]] (PTB7): [6,6]-Phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) based solar cell. Under optimized conditions, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) can be enhanced from 7.5 % (without AuNPs) to 8.1 % (with AuNPs), which is mainly attributed to the absorption enhancement in the range of 400-650 nm. The solar cells incorporated with pointy-edge AuNPs such as nanocubes show more significant improvement in the photovoltaic performance.