The effect of boron-doped carbon nanotubes blended with active layers in 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 (V_oc), 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 V_oc, due to their tunable work function, superior conductivity, and transport behavior. A novel arc discharge (AD) method produced B-CNTs without any residual catalysts. 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. The excitation effects of PSC and X-ray detector devices based on ALs embedded with different amounts of B-CNTs were also studied. The derived outcomes revealed a PCE of 10.21 % for the constructed PSC 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 show that B-CNTs can act as both an exciton dissociation center and a charge transfer channel, promoting charge separation and transport in the AL.