Solar Cells Incorporating Water/Alcohol-Soluble Electron-Extracting DNA Nanolayers

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was successfully incorporated as a nanolayer between the bottom indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent electrode and the photoabsorbing film in a polymer solar cell. Upon film optimization and analyses with scanning tunneling spectroscopy/currents, we demonstrate that a 1–6 nm thick DNA stratum functions as an effective electron-extracting layer, leading to strong improvements in rectifying behavior (by 2 orders of...