Recent Research Progress on Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Solar Cells

Nowadays, organic–inorganic solar cells have recently gained remarkable attention from the photovoltaic research community because of their remarkable device performance and high power-conversion efficiencies. (PCEs) The crystalline Si and other alternative inorganic materials are more commonly used in the manufacturing of solar cells, but their implementation in modern electronic devices is restricted as a result of the inflexibility of the solar cells and the aggravated air pollution problem. One of the possible alternatives is organic-based solar cells, where the cell can be fabricated at low temperature over a large area in an inexpensive way. Now the organic materials have been developed greatly as eco-friendly solar energy to replace non-renewable sources. 1–3 However, the low electron mobility or the inefficient charge transport due to the presence of the traps in the organic active film leads to a decrease of the efficiency of the organic photovoltaic cell structures. Later research provides the evidence that the limitation of the organic photovoltaic structures linked to the charge transport can be overcome by combining organic materials with inorganic semiconductors nanoparticles (NPs), the charge transport being improved based on the low ionization potential of the organic part and the high electron affinity of the inorganic component. 4 , 5 The combined characteristics of the organic and inorganic semiconductors are implemented into the hybrid solar cells, which exhibit the good charge-transfer characteristics of inorganic semiconductors and the easy processing and tunability of organic semiconductors.