Hybrid Solar Cells with Polymer and Inorganic Nanocrystals

In this chapter, we aim to present an overview of the development of the polymer/inorganic hybrid solar cells. In the first section, we introduce the basic concepts of hybrid solar cells including the device architecture and operation mechanism. Then we summarize the recent progress in this area classified by the nanomorphology of inorganic nanocrystals, including nanoparticles, nanorods, nanowires, and vertically aligned nanoarrays. The nanoscale morphology of the inorganic crystal could play a decisive role in determining the conversion efficiencies of the hybrid solar cells. Finally, we focus on the interface modifications involved in hybrid solar cells. It is noteworthy that an appropriate interface modification could not only facilitate the exciton dissociation but also suppress the backward recombination of carriers and therefore significantly boost the device performance.