A novel fabrication of MEH-PPV/Al:ZnO nanorod arrays based ordered bulk heterojunction hybrid solar cells

Vertically aligned Al:ZnO nanorod arrays has been used as window layer in the fabrication of ordered bulk heterojuction hybrid solar cells. The utilization of the nanorod arrays will enhance the electron transport in vertical direction and also for light harvesting applications for high performance devices. The performance of this hybrid polymer/metal oxide photovoltaic devices based on MEH-PPV [poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene)] and oriented Al:ZnO nanorod arrays is studied. The Al:ZnO nanorod arrays with a diameter of about 70–80 nm and thickness of approximately 500 nm were successfully grown on Al:ZnO-coated ITO substrate by sonicated sol–gel immersion technique. The photovoltaic performance of a short-circuit current density of 5.320 mA/cm2, an open-circuit voltage of 195 mV and a fill factor of 27.71%, with a power conversion efficiency of about 0.287% under AM 1.5 illumination (100 mW/cm2). To the best of our knowledge, preparation of aligned Al:ZnO nanorod arrays for this type of solar cell fabrication has not been reported by any research group.