Polymer Photovoltaic Cells with Rhenium Oxide as Anode Interlayer

The effect of a new transition metal oxide, rhenium oxide (ReO(3)), on the performance of polymer solar cells based on regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and methanofullerene [6,6]-phenyl C(61)-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) blend as buffer layer was investigated. The effect of the thickness of ReO(3) layer on electrical characteristics of the polymer solar cells was studied. It is found that insertion of ReO(3) interfacial layer results in the decreased performance for P3HT: PCBM based solar cells. In order to further explore the mechanism of the decreasing of the open-circuit voltage (V(oc)), the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to investigate the ReO(3) oxidation states. Kelvin Probe method showed that the work function of the ReO(3) is estimated to be 5.13eV after thermal evaporation. The results indicated the fact that a portion of ReO(3) decomposed during thermal evaporation process, resulting in the formation of a buffer layer with a lower work function. As a consequence, a higher energy barrier was generated between the ITO and the active layer.