Efficient Organic Photovoltaic Cells Using Hole-Transporting MoO3 Buffer Layers Converted from Solution-Processed MoS2 Films

We introduce a new method to fabricate a MoO3 hole-transporting layer for organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs). We fabricated a MoS2 film from its solution and converted it to MoO3. MoS2 has a lamellar crystal structure similar to graphite, and it can be exfoliated into monolayer MoS2 dispersible in water. Li atoms were first intercalated into van der Waals gaps of MoS2, and the compound was immersed in water to generate H2 bubbles, which broke the van der Waals bond between adjacent MoS2 layers. The produced solution of MoS2 was spin-casted on an indium tin oxide substrate, and the film was oxidized by ozone. On the converted MoO3 hole-transporting layer, an organic photoconversion layer was fabricated by spin-casting a poly(3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) composite solution. Fabricated OPVs revealed a power conversion efficiency as large as 3.14%, which was superior to that of P3HT/PCBM OPV with a poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) hole-transporting layer.