Efficiency-enhanced scalable organic photovoltaics using roll-to-roll nanoimprint lithography

Mohammed A. Yakoob, Jani Lamminaho, Karlis Petersons, Ashish Prajapati, Elodie Destouesse, Bhushan R. Patil, Horst Günter Rubahn, Jan Stensborg, Gil Shalev, Morten Madsen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

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Abstract

Light-trapping nanostructures have for decades been researched as a route to enhance the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). Whereas the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of OSCs have reached above 18 %, industrially compatible devices made by scalable processing in air, using only nontoxic solvents and materials, have shown significantly lower performance values. Although light-trapping nanostructures may improve this, the methods for integrating the nanostructures are typically not compatible with industrial scale up. In this work, scalable, industrially compatible, nonfullerene-based OSCs are developed with integrated light-trapping nanostructures at the back electrodes in the devices. The OSCs are made by using scalable roll-to-roll (R2R) and sheet-to-sheet (S2S) processes and the nanostructures are made by using roll-to-plate (R2P) nanoimprint lithography. A fully scalable solution is thereby developed for industrially compatible nanostructured OSCs. The nanostructured devices show enhancements in PCE up to 25 % compared to reference cells, owing to an enhancement in the short-circuit current density (15 %) by enhanced absorption, and improved charge carrier extraction leading to an enhancement in the fill factor (7 %). Optical modeling is utilized to verify the optical effect of the nanostructures. The best devices attain a PCE of 6.5 %, which is the highest reported efficiency for air-processed slot-die coated ITO-free flexible PBDB-T : ITIC devices, here using nontoxic solvents.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere202101611
JournalChemSusChem
Volume15
Issue number2
Number of pages10
ISSN1864-5631
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21. Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH

Keywords

  • donor-acceptor systems
  • light trapping
  • lithography
  • nanostructures
  • solar cells

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