High-performance inverted solar cells based on blend films of ZnO naoparticles and TiO₂ nanorods as a cathode buffer layer

We reported the favorable cathode buffer layer based on a blend of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and TiO₂ nanorods (NRs) applied to inverted solar cells. In addition to the high optical transmittance, the resultant blend film gave a relatively dense film with lower roughness than that of the respective single-component film. This improved the interface contact between the buffer layer and photoactive layer and therefore reduced the contact resistance and leakage current. Moreover, the combination of NRs and NPs increased the efficiency of electron transport and collection by providing both a direct path for electron transport from TiO₂ NRs and a large contact area between ZnO NPs and the active layer. Consequently, both the short-circuit current density (J_sc) and fill factor (FF) in the device were improved, leading to an improvement of the device performance. The best power conversion efficiency (PCE) based on the blend film as the buffer layer reached 8.82%, which was preferable to those of a single ZnO NP film (7.76%) and a TiO ₂ NR-based device (7.66%).