The Effect of Boron-Doped Carbon Nanotubes Blended Active Layer on Achieving High-Efficiency Polymer Solar Cells and X-Ray Detectors

Polymer solar cells (PSCs) usually offer inferior power conversion efficiency (PCE), lower open-circuit voltage (Voc), and inefficient charge extraction abilities. We studied Boron-doped carbon nanotubes (B-CNTs) as the third active layer (AL) component to improve the PCE and Voc, owing to their tunable work function, better conductivity, and transport behavior. A novel arc discharge (AD) method produced B-CNTs without any residual catalyst. This work utilized PBDB-T: ITIC as the initial AL to prepare PSCs and X-ray detectors with glass/ITO/PEDOT: PSS/AL/LiF/Al structure. In addition, the excitation effect of PSCs and X-ray detector devices based on ALs embedded with different amounts of B-CNTs were also studied. The derived outcomes revealed the higher PCE of 10.21% for the constructed polymer solar cell with 3 wt.% of B-CNTs blended AL. Furthermore, the fabricated X-ray photodetector with 3 wt.% of B-CNTs obtained an excellent sensitivity of 2.49 mA/Gy·cm2. These results manifest that B-CNTs can act as both an exciton dissociation center and a charge transfer channel, promoting charge separation and transport in the AL