Single-walled carbon nanotube transparent conductive films fabricated by reductive dissolution and spray coating for organic photovoltaics

Solutions of unbundled and unbroken single-walled carbon nanotubes have been prepared using a reductive dissolution process. Transparent conductive films spray-coated from these solutions show a nearly twofold improvement in the ratio of electrical conductivity to optical absorptivity versus those deposited from conventional aqueous dispersions, due to substantial de-aggregation and sizable nanotube lengths. These transparent electrodes have been utilized to fabricate P3HT-PCBM organic solar cells achieving power conversion efficiencies up to 2.3%, comparable to those of solar cells using indium tin oxide transparent electrodes. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.