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. 2020 Oct 22;10(1):18055.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-75070-0.

High colloidal stability ZnO nanoparticles independent on solvent polarity and their application in polymer solar cells

Woojin Lee  1 , Jiwoo Yeop  1 , Jungwoo Heo  2 , Yung Jin Yoon  1 , Song Yi Park  1 , Jaeki Jeong  1 , Yun Seop Shin  1 , Jae Won Kim  1 , Na Gyeong An  1 , Dong Suk Kim  3 , Jongnam Park  4 , Jin Young Kim  5   6
Affiliations

High colloidal stability ZnO nanoparticles independent on solvent polarity and their application in polymer solar cells

Woojin Lee et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Significant aggregation between ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) dispersed in polar and nonpolar solvents hinders the formation of high quality thin film for the device application and impedes their excellent electron transporting ability. Herein a bifunctional coordination complex, titanium diisopropoxide bis(acetylacetonate) (Ti(acac)2) is employed as efficient stabilizer to improve colloidal stability of ZnO NPs. Acetylacetonate functionalized ZnO exhibited long-term stability and maintained its superior optical and electrical properties for months aging under ambient atmospheric condition. The functionalized ZnO NPs were then incorporated into polymer solar cells with conventional structure as n-type buffer layer. The devices exhibited nearly identical power conversion efficiency regardless of the use of fresh and old (2 months aged) NPs. Our approach provides a simple and efficient route to boost colloidal stability of ZnO NPs in both polar and nonpolar solvents, which could enable structure-independent intense studies for efficient organic and hybrid optoelectronic devices.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Stabilized ZnO NP solutions after the addition of Ti(acac). (a) Photographs of ZnO NP solutions dispersed in MeOH. (b) UV–Vis absorption and (c) photoluminescence spectra of ZnO NP solutions.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Transmission electron microscope images and (b) X-ray diffraction patterns of fZnO NPs (Inset: magnified images of individual nanoparticles).
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) IR spectra of fZnO NPs. Dashed line exhibits the spectrum of Zn(acac) and Ti(acac). (b) UV–Vis absorption spectra of pZnO, fZnO, Zn(acac), and Ti(acac) at UV region.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) J-V characteristics and (b) EQE spectra of PTB7-Th:PC71BM based PSCs using p- and fZnO NPs as ETLs comparing with as-prepared and aged for 2 months of each NPs. (c) J–V characteristics and (d) EQE spectra of PTB7-Th:IEICO-4F and PBDB-T:IT-M based PSCs with fZnO NPs as ETLs.
Figure 5
Figure 5
J-V characteristics in the dark PTB7-Th:PC71BM based PSCs using (a) Ag electrode and (b) Al electrode for p- and fZnO as ETL. Light intensity dependence of (c) JSC and (d) VOC for PTB7-Th:PC71BM PSCs with Ag electrode devices.
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