Enhancing the optical and photoelectric efficiency of PEDOT/PSS thin film by incorporating activated biochar for photovoltaic applications

Recently, scientists have been interested in developing advanced techniques for technological applications using sustainable biochar (BC) materials. In this study, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate, PEDOT/PSS, was doped with 5 wt.% and 10 wt.% of Activated biochar (A-BC) obtained from Chlorophyta (green Algae) using a microwave combustion process. XRD, FTIR, TGA, BET, and SEM were used to analyze the structural properties of PEDOT/PSS@BC. The XRD results demonstrate that A-BC impacts the amorphous nature of PEDOT/PSS, causing the doped composite to have a higher crystalline structure. While measuring dark current density-voltage, it was found that PEDOT/PSS@BC/n-Si showed better-rectifying characteristics compared to pristine PEDOT/PSS/n-Si, with a higher rectification ratio. When A-BC was used, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) was 13.02%, with a short circuit current density (Jsc) of 34.37 mA/cm2, open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.65 V, and fill factor (FF) of 58%. These findings demonstrated that using A-BC improved the characteristics of PEDOT/PSS/n-Si devices, and the increase in performance was affected by the concentration of A-BC. A-BC can act as an efficient electron acceptor, facilitating charge transfer and reducing recombination losses.