Bifunctional Polymer Nanocomposites as Hole-Transport Layers for Efficient Light Harvesting: Application to Perovskite Solar Cells

A new approach to largely enhancing light harvesting of solar cells by employing bifunctional polymer nanocomposites as hole-transport layers (HTLs) is proposed. To illustrate our working principle, CH3NH3PbI3-xClx perovskite solar cells are used as examples. Gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) are added into a conjugated poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) matrix, resulting in a ∼4-fold enhancement in the electrical conductivity and carrier mobility of the native P3HT film. The improved electrical properties are attributed to enhanced polymer chain ordering caused by Au-NPs. By integration of those P3HT:Au-NP films with an optimum loading concentration of 20% into perovskite solar cells as HTLs, this leads to a more than 25% enhancement in the power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared with that of the NP-free one. In addition to the modulated electrical properties of the HTL, the improved performance can also be attributed to the scattering effect from the incorporated Au-NPs, which effectively extends the optical pathway to amplify photon absorption of the photoactive layer. The design principle shown here can be generalized to other organic materials as well, which should be very useful for the further development of high-performance optoelectronic devices.