Boosting Photocurrent Collection in Polythiophene‐Based Organic Solar Cells Through Quantum Dot–Solvent Additive Synergistic Interaction

Organic solar cells (OSCs) present a viable, cost‐effective, and adaptable substitute for conventional silicon‐based photovoltaics. But their power conversion efficiency (PCE), which is frequently constrained by ineffective photocurrent collection, continues to be a major obstacle to broad commercialization. In this study, the synergistic effect of solvent additives and quantum dots (QDs) on the performance of thin‐film polymer solar cells (TFPSCs) was investigated. Tellurium‐based QD at optimum concentration and chloronaphthalene (CN) solvent additive were used in the hole transport layer (HTL) and the solar absorber layer of TFPSC separately and simultaneously to improve the performance of the devices. The performance of the TFPSCs with only CN additives in the active layer and that of the QD only in the HTL were very close to each other. However, better device performance was observed when the solvent additive and the QD were used simultaneously in the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) photoactive layer and the HTLs, respectively. However, increasing the concentration of the QD in the HTL led to a reduction in device performance. The TFPSC with both additive and QD doping displays an over 50% enhancement of the PCE when compared to the pristine devices.