Table 2 Biological materials used in OPV for modulating the photo response and enhancing the performance of a device

Ag-530/LHCII (Light-harvesting complex II)

Photoactive layer

ITO/ZnO/nano-bio-hybrid/polymer:PC₇₁BM/MoO₃/Ag

Power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.88% (a relative enhancement of 20%)

²²⁸

PSI (Photosystem I)

Photoactive layer

ITO/Tyrosine/PSI multilayer/C₆₀/Au

PCE of 0.5%

⁸⁶

DNA fullerene conjugates

Photoactive layer

ITO/ZnO/Fullerene-DNA conjugate/MoO₃/Ag

-

⁹⁵

bacteriochlorophyll c complex:PCBM

Photoactive layer

ITO/PEDOT:PSS/ BChl c/Al

Short circuit current density was improved

⁹⁶

PSI complex

Photoactive layer

FTO/PEDOT:PSS/PS1/LiF/Al

PCE of 0.069%

⁵³¹

Astaxanthin

Photoactive layer

ITO/ZnO/PBDB-T:ITIC:AST/MO₃/Ag

PCE improved from 10.7% to 12.07%

²²⁹

DNA nanolayer

Electron extracting layer

ITO/ZnO-NPs/DNA/PTB7:PC₇₀BM/MoO₃/Ag

PCE improved from 7.2% to 8.5%

¹⁰⁷

DNA

Electron extracting layer

ITO/DNA/PTB7:PC₇₀BM/MoO₃/Ag

PCE increased by 110%

¹⁰⁸

2D DNA lattice

Electron blocking

ITO/PEDOT:PSS/DNA/P3HT:PCBM/Al/LiF

PCE improved from 1.77% to 1.95%

⁵³²

L-Arginine

Electron transporting layer (ETL)

ITO/ZnO/L-Arginine/PTB7-Th:PC₇₁BM/MoO₃/Ag

PCE increased from 8.09% to 9.31%

¹⁰¹

Glycine

Electron transport layer

ITO/ZnO/Glycine/PM6:IT-4F/MoO₃/Al

PCE increased from 12.9% to 14%

¹⁰²

Ethyl cellulose

Electron transport layer

ITO/ZnO@graphene:ethlyl cellulose/P3HT:PC₆₁BM/MoO₃/Ag

PCE improved from 3.1% to 3.7%

⁵³³

Chitosan, Methyl-cellulose, Dextrin

Electron transporting layer

ITO glass/ZnO/glucose-based biopolymers/BHJ/MoO₃/Ag

Increase in PCE compared to control devices

¹¹⁵

CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose sodium)

Electron transporting layer

ITO/ZnO/CMC/PBDB-T:IT-M/MoO_x/Ag

PCE increased from 10.97% to 12.01%

¹¹⁶

50 kGy–Polydopamine–Au–Nano-rods/ZnO

Electron transporting layer

ITO/AuNRs/ZnO/PTB7:PC₇₁BM/MoO₃/Al

PCE increased from 3.57% to 4.57%

¹²⁰

Sarcosine

Electron transport layer

ITO/Sarcosine/PM6:BTP-BO-4Cl/MoO₃/Ag

PCE of 3.86% without ETL to 13.53% with sarcosine as ETL

⁵³⁴

Chitosan

Electron transport layer

ITO/ZnO/natural polymers/BHJ layer/MoO₃/Ag

PCE of 7.54%

¹¹⁵

DNA:CTMA:PEDOT-S

Electron transporting layer

ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PC₇₁BM/ DNA:CTMA:PEDOT-S/cathode

PCE improved from 1.77% to 1.95%

¹⁰⁹

ZnO NPs + DNA

Electron transporting layer

ITO/ZnO NPs+DNA/P3HT:PC₇₀BM/MoO₃/Ag

PCE improved from 3.43% to 4.09%

¹¹⁰

Polydopamine–ZnO (PDA-ZNO)

Electron transporting layer

ITO/PDA/ZNO/PTB7: PC₇₀BM /MoO₃/Al

PCE increased from 2.32% to 2.64%

¹²¹

100 kGy–Ploydopamine–ZnO (PDA-ZNO)

Electron transporting layer

ITO/PDA/ZnO/PTB7:PC₇₁BM/MoO₃/Al

PCE increased from 2.32% to 3.82%

¹²²

Cellulose based CNS

Transparent anode

CNS/ PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PCBM/Ca/Al

Highest PCE of 1.84%

⁵³⁵

Cellulose-graphene

Top electrode

PET/ITO/Ag/ITO/ZnO/PEIE/active region/V₂O₅/PEDOT:PSS

PCE higher than 3%

⁵³⁶

Cellulose nanofibers/silver

Flexible conductive substrate

TOCN/AgNWs/ZnO/active layer/MoO₃/Ag

PCE of 7.47%

⁵³⁷

Cellulose nanofibres

Surlyn films reinforced with cellulose nanofibres

ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PCDTBT:PCBM/TiOx/Al

Improvement of Jsc from 4.64 mA/cm² to 5.64 mA/cm²

⁵³⁸

β-carotene

Electron donor

ITO/ZnO/β car:PCBM/MoO₃/Ag

PCE of 0.58% (four fold improvement compared to previous reports)

⁹⁹

Chlorophyll derivative

Electron acceptor

ITO/MoO₃ /lycopene : Chl-1 (or Chl- 2)/Ca/Al

Best efficiency of 4.5 ×10^-2%

⁵³⁹

poly-lysine

Electron extraction layer

PEDOT:PSS PEF/ZnO/Poly-lysine/BHJ/MoO₃/Ag

OPV performance improved and the best PCE of 15.3%

¹¹²

NOCC:QCS (chitosan derivative)

Cathode interlayer

ITO/NOCC:QCS/PTB7-Th:PCBM/MoO₃/Ag

200% improvement in the PCE

¹¹⁷

α-poly-L-lysine (α-PLL)

Electron extraction layer

ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PTB7-Th:IEICO-4F/α-PLL/Al

PCE was improved to more than 12%

¹¹³

poly-lysine

Electron extraction layer

ITO/poly-lysine/active layer/MoO₃/Ag

Best PCE of 10.01%

¹¹⁴

Edible bio acid

interlayer

ITO/PEDOT:PSS/D18:Y6/PDIN:edible bio acid/Ag

increased the average PCE from 17.58% to 18.35%

⁷⁶

Starch+ ethylcellulose

Transferrable hole selective layer

ITO/ZnO/P3HT:PCBM/PEDOT:PSS/EC/Pt

PCE around 7.1%

⁵⁴⁰