Improved efficiency and lifetime in small molecule organic solar cells with optimized conductive polymer electrodes

We report on efficient and stable ITO-free small molecule organic solar cells with conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) electrodes using a post-treatment process, causing selective removal of PSS. The solar cells with post-treated PEDOT:PSS electrodes show significantly improved short circuit current densities and efficiencies compared to untreated devices. Moreover, the removal of PSS by the post-treatment significantly improves the lifetime of devices, which are more resistant to loss of fill factor compared to untreated devices. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3634015]