Silver nanoparticle-doped titanium oxide thin films for intermediate layers in organic tandem solar cell

In this work we investigate the Ag nanoparticle doping of TiOx used as an intermediate layer between subcells of a tandem organic photovoltaic. We use a model polymer cell structure of P3HT:TiOx:PEDOT:P3HT to observe charge-trapping effects as a function of nanoparticle content in the TiOx, as determined by the shape of the dark and illuminated current voltage curves of the devices. There is a direct correlation between the amount of Ag nanoparticles in the TiOx, and interfacial charge buildup, and charge trapping being completely mitigated at around 0.2% mol. This suggests that such doping schemes might provide a simple approach to the creation and use of TiOx layers for tandem cells.