Efficient Modification of Metal Oxide Surfaces with Phosphonic Acids by Spray Coating

We report a rapid method of depositing phosphonic acid molecular groups onto conductive metal oxide surfaces. Solutions of pentafluorobenzyl phosphonic acid (PFBPA) were deposited on indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, nickel oxide, and zinc oxide by spray coating substrates heated to temperatures between 25 and 150 °C using a 60 s exposure time. Comparisons of coverage and changes in work function were made to the more conventional dip-coating method utilizing a 1 h exposure time. The data show that the work function shifts and surface coverage by the phosphonic acid were similar to or greater than those obtained by the dip-coating method. When the deposition temperature was increased, the magnitude of the surface coverage and work function shift was also found to increase. The rapid exposure of the spray coating was found to result in less etching of zinc-containing oxides than the dip-coating method. Bulk heterojunction solar cells made of polyhexylthiophene (P3HT) and bis-indene-C₆₀ (ICBA) were tested with PFBPA dip and spray-modified ITO substrates as well as poly­(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly­(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)-modified ITO. The spray-modified ITO solar cells showed a similar open circuit voltage (V_OC) and fill factor (FF) and a less than 5% lower short circuit current density (<i>J</i>_SC) and power conversion efficiency (PCE) than the dip- and PEDOT:PSS-modified ITO. These results demonstrate a potential path to a scalable method to deposit phosphonic acid surface modifiers on metal oxides while overcoming the limitations of other techniques that require long exposure and post-processing times

Tandem Solar Cells from Solution-Processed CdTe and PbS Quantum Dots Using a ZnTe–ZnO Tunnel Junction

We developed a monolithic CdTe–PbS tandem solar cell architecture in which both the CdTe and PbS absorber layers are solution-processed from nanocrystal inks. Due to their tunable nature, PbS quantum dots (QDs), with a controllable band gap between 0.4 and ∼1.6 eV, are a promising candidate for a bottom absorber layer in tandem photovoltaics. In the detailed balance limit, the ideal configuration of a CdTe (<i>E</i>_g = 1.5 eV)–PbS tandem structure assumes infinite thickness of the absorber layers and requires the PbS band gap to be 0.75 eV to theoretically achieve a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 45%. However, modeling shows that by allowing the thickness of the CdTe layer to vary, a tandem with efficiency over 40% is achievable using bottom cell band gaps ranging from 0.68 and 1.16 eV. In a first step toward developing this technology, we explore CdTe–PbS tandem devices by developing a ZnTe–ZnO tunnel junction, which appropriately combines the two subcells in series. We examine the basic characteristics of the solar cells as a function of layer thickness and bottom-cell band gap and demonstrate open-circuit voltages in excess of 1.1 V with matched short circuit current density of 10 mA/cm² in prototype devices