Highly Air-Stable Solution-Processed and Low-Temperature Organic/Inorganic Nanostructure Hybrid Solar Cells

Silicon nanostructure-based hybrid solar cells have attracted much attention due to their potential advantages of extremely simple device fabrication and the cost-effectiveness of their hybrid structure. These hybrid solar cells open a new research direction in new-generation photovoltaics. However, the performance of hybrid inorganic/organic solar cells tends to deteriorate because of severe problems with long-term stability. These will need to be solved before hybrid solar cells can be used successfully to harvest solar energy. To solve this issue, we describe a new high-performance hybrid Si-nanotip/TEDs (zwitterionic tetrathiafulvalene-extended dicarboxylate radicals) solar cell that shows long-term stability. TED is composed of the only single-component molecule without any doping, thus providing long-lasting chemical stability combined with high conductivity. These Si-nanotips/TED hybrid solar cells are markedly more stable than Si/PEDOT:PSS hybrid solar cells, which, unless encapsulated, rapidly degrade under ambient conditions. This new TED material opens a pathway toward a new generation of organic electronics and optoelectronics devices.