Development of a new family of a hole transport layer based on Pm1−xZnxTe QDs for flexible fluorine derivative solar cell

•A novel hole transport material (Pm1−xZnxTe QDs) was developed for flexible FDSCs.•The use of Pm1−xZnxTe QDs as HTL brings unprecedentedly high VOC of 0.78 V.•The use of Pm1−xZnxTe QDs as HTL achieves a power conversion efficiency of 7.8%.•The Pm1−xZnxTe QDs helps for faster dissociation of the photoinduced excitons.•The manufactured flexible organic solar cells showed high mechanical stability. Fluorine derivative solar cells (FDSCs) are considered a promising candidate for next-generation photovoltaics because they hold promise for the realization of lightweight and flexible devices that can be fabricated by room-temperature solution approach. Herein, a new family of hole transport materials with high LUMO and HOMO energy levels was prepared. A series of Pm1−xZnxTe QDs were synthesized via N-naphthyl-N-phenylaminobiphenyl assisted colloidal approach and used as an effective hole transport layer of fluorine derivative solar cells. The use of Pm1−xZnxTe QDs brings unprecedentedly high voltage of 0.78 V, which is over 25% higher than that of 0.6 V for devices based on NiO and PEDOT:PSS. The device shows a remarkable power conversion efficiency of 7.8%. The enhanced photovoltaic performance by using the Pm1−xZnxTe QDs as HTL into FDSCs should be ascribed to the fast dissociation of the photoinduced excitons, which significantly reduces interface carriers recombination. This novel HTL may pave the way for the realization of lightweight and mechanically flexible solar cell devices with high power conversion efficiency.