Researchers at the University of Rome Tor Vergata's Centre for Hybrid and Organic Solar Energy (CHOSE) and ISM-CNR have tested a commercially available HTM with a new core made by low-cost fluorene–xantene units. The experimentation was conducted on small (0.09 cm2) and large area (1.01 cm2) cells.
The one-pot synthesis of this compound is said to drastically reduce its cost compared with the commonly used Spiro-OMeTAD. The optoelectronic performances and properties were characterized through JV measurement, IPCE (incident photon to current efficiency), steady-state photoluminescence and ISOS stability test. SEM (scanning electron microscope) images reveal a uniform and pinhole free coverage of the X55 HTM surface, which reduces the charge recombination losses and improves the device performance relatively to Spiro-OMeTAD from 16% to 17%. The ISOS-D-1 stability test on large area cells without any encapsulation reports an efficiency drop of about 15% after 1000 h compared to 30% for the reference case.
