Highly\nConducting MXene–Silver Nanowire Transparent Electrodes for\nFlexible Organic Solar Cells

Abstract

MXene,\na new class of two-dimensional materials, offers a unique combination\nof metallic conductivity and hydrophilicity. This material has shown\ngreat promise in numerous applications including electromagnetic interference\nshielding, sensing, energy storage, and catalysis. In this paper,\nwe report on the fabrication of transparent, conductive, and flexible\nMXene/silver nanowire (AgNW) hybrid films, resulting in the highest\nfigure of merit (162.49) in the reported literature to date regarding\nan MXene-based transparent electrode. The hybrid films, prepared via\na simple and scalable solution-processed method, exhibit good electrical\nconductivity, high transmittance, low roughness, work function matching,\nand robust mechanical performance. Following film fabrication, the\nhybrid electrodes were demonstrated to function as transparent electrodes\nin fullerene molecule PTB7-Th:PC71BM and nonfullerene molecule PBDB-T:ITIC\norganic photovoltaics (OPVs). In an effort to further improve the\nperformance of flexible OPVs, a ternary structure of PBDB-T:ITIC:PC71BM\nwas demonstrated, resulting in a power conversion efficiency (PCE)\nof 8.30%. Mechanical properties were also quantified, with the flexible\nternary organic solar cells capable of retaining 84.6% of the original\nPCE after 1000 bending and unbending cycles to a 5 mm bending radius.\nThese optoelectronic and mechanical performance metrics represent\na breakthrough in the field of flexible optoelectronics.