Figure 4 AFM topography images (P3HT/CIGS films), energy diagram, and I-V characteristics (P3HT/CIGS Dabrafenib clinical trial hybrid solar Selleckchem BMS345541 cells). AFM topography images of (a) choloform, (b) chlorobenzene, and (c) dichlorobenzene after spin-coating process. (d) Energy diagram of P3HT/CIGS hybrid solar cells and (e) its corresponding I-V characteristics. Effects of interface treatment between CIGS NCs and P3HT The crucial reason for the comparably poor performance of the hybrid solar cells might be due to carrier loss due to recombination on the surface of CIGS NCs. The surface of the as-synthesized CIGS NCs are end-capped with oleylamine as surfactant, which contains long alkyl chains

with inherently dielectric properties, thus impeding a sufficient charge transport through the hybrid layer as well as charge separation at the interface between polymer/NCs [16]. Post treatment by pyridine-refluxed nanocrystals

is a common way used for the reduction of interparticle distance thus enhancing SP600125 the electrons/holes transported through the domain phases of nanocrystals [21]. Here, we employed the ligand exchange processes to substitute the oleylamine by the pyridine. A comparison of the FTIR transmission spectrum of the as-prepared and pyridine-treated CIGS NCs was characterized as shown in Figure 5a, and the corresponding I-V curves were measured as shown in Figure 5b for the hybrid solar cell before and after the pyridine Ribonucleotide reductase treatment. Note that PV properties are highly related to the ligands capped onto surfaces of CIGS NCs. As a result, the Jsc increases after the pyridine treatment from 56 μA/cm2 to 69 μA/cm2 with the Voc of approximately 940 mV, yielding the enhanced power-conversion efficiency of approximately 0.017% with the fill factor of 0.26.The enhanced efficiency that pyridine-capped CIGS NCs enable more effective exciton dissociation at interfaces of P3HT/CIGS NCs compared with that of oleylamine-capped CIGS NCs. Figure 5 FTIR of CIGS NCs (a) and I-V characteristics of photovoltaic

devices (b) with and without pyridine treatment. (a) CIGS NCs unrefluxed and refluxed by pyridine; (b) photovoltaic devices with and without pyridine treatment. (OLA, oleylamine; PYR, pyridine). Effects of thermal treatments on CIGS NCs/P3HT hybrid solar cell The post-annealing is an effective way to enhance the performance of organic photovoltaic devices by enhancing nanoscale crystallinity so that an improved microstructure in the photoactive films can be achieved [22]. Here, the annealing was accomplished at 150°C for the hybrid solar cell after deposition of 100-nm-thick Al metal as electrode. The enhancement crystallinity of P3HT can be clearly observed from the XRD results as shown in Figure 6a, with which peaks with increased intensity at 6° and 24°, corresponding to interdigitated alkyl chains and interchain spacing in P3HT as a result of face-to-face packing from the thiophene rings can be observed.