Metal chloride-treated graphene oxide to produce high-performance polymer solar cells

We introduce a simple but effective graphene oxide (GO) modification with metal chloride treatments to produce high-performance polymer solar cells (PSCs). The role of various metal chlorides on GO and their effects on device performances of PSCs was investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy, and current-voltage measurement studies demonstrated that metal chloride can induce a p-doping effect and increase the GO work-function, thus resulting in an improved built-in potential and interfacial resistance in PSCs. The resultant PSCs with metal chloride exhibited improved device efficiency than those with the neat GO. Furthermore, with the metal chloride-doped GO, we finally achieved an excellent PSC-efficiency of 6.58% and a very desirable device stability, which constitute a highly similar efficiency but much better PSC life-time to conventional device with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). This study could be a valuable way to produce various PEDOT:PSS alternatives and beneficial for producing high-performance and cost-efficient polymeric devices.