Effect of sorbitol doping in PEDOT:PSS on the electrical performance of organic photovoltaic devices

Organic photovoltaic cells have important advantages, such as low cost and mechanical flexibility. The conducting polymer poly(3,4 ethylenedioxy-thiophene): poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) has been widely used as an interfacial layer or a polymer electrode in polymer electronic devices, such as photovoltaic devices and light-emitting diodes. In this report, we discuss the direct current (DC) conductivity of PEDOT: PSS films containing various weight ratios of sorbitol dopant. The work function is shown to steadily decrease with increasing dopant content. With different dopant contents, illuminated current-voltage photovoltaic characteristics were observed. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) analysis revealed that the work function of the PEDOT: PSS was affected by its sorbitol content. The morphologies of the doped PEDOT: PSS films were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). For the device fabrication, we made organic photovoltaic cells by a spin-coating process and Al deposition by thermal evaporation. The sorbitol dopant is able to improve the efficiency of the device. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.