Low band gap polymeric solar cells using solution-processable copper iodide as hole transporting layer

Abstract In the present work, we have shown the performance of solution-processable copper iodide (CuI) as an alternative hole transporting layer (HTL) for polymeric solar cells. Optical spectra of the CuI thin film reveal highly transparent and practically no absorption in the range vis-NIR region (450–1110 nm). X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of CuI exhibits as a p-type semiconductor as well as crystalline nature. The photovoltaic devices were fabricated using PCDTBT and PTB7 as donor materials blended with PC71BM as an acceptor material. The power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) based on CuI as an HTL have been achieved to up to 3.04% and 4.48% for PCDTBT and PTB7 based donor materials respectively with a configuration based on ITO/CuI(40 nm)/active layer (60 nm)/Al (120 nm). This study clearly indicated that the devices made with CuI as an HTL showed superior performance than the device fabricated from PEDOT:PSS layer as an HTL. Morphological characterization of the HTL using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) were carried for better understanding.