The performance of polymer solar cells based on P3HT:PCBM after post-annealing and adding titanium dioxide nanoparticles

The polymer solar cell is a promising candidate for the next-generation solar cell because of its light weight, flexibility and easy fabrication. In this manuscript, we report on polymer solar cells based on P3HT: [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester with 1:1 weight ratio blending as active layer. To improve the performance, the TiO₂ nanoparticles were adding to the active layer of the cell. The morphology of the polymer solar cell was improved because of the addition of TiO₂ nanoparticles. The effects of thermal annealing on the solar cell before and after adding TiO ₂ nanoparticles blending were studied respectively. Post-annealing shows significant improvement in cell performance whether TiO₂ nanoparticles are added or not. Optimisation of the thermal annealing condition and the adding amount of TiO₂ nanoparticles can efficiently improve the performance of the cell.