Improvement of stability for organic solar cells by using molybdenum trioxide buffer layer

Abstract We demonstrated that the stability of organic solar cells (OSCs) under light irradiation is markedly enhanced by inserting a molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) buffer layer between an anode layer of indium tin oxide (ITO) and a p-type layer of 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin (H2TPP) or N,N'-di(1-naphthyl)-N,N'-diphenylbenzidine (α-NPD). The use of the MoO3 layer also enhanced open-circuit voltages and power conversion efficiencies of the OSCs due to an increase in built-in potential. From results of stability test of hole-only α-NPD devices, we concluded that the OSC degradation occurs near the ITO/p-type layer interface and that the use of the MoO3 layer can prevent the degradation at this interface.