Organic solar cells (OSCs) have driven their efficiencies to more than 10% to reach a viable level for commercialization. However, the increase in the thickness of the photoactive layer has led to lower efficiency levels, which therefore makes the manufacturing process really complex.
A research team, led by Professor Changduk Yang and his research team in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST, has introduced a new method that can solve issues associated with the thickness of the photoactive layers in OSCs. The study was published recently in the journal Energy & Environmental Science.
In the study, the research team has accomplished obtaining an efficiency of 12.01% in the organic solar cells, by using a non-fullerance acceptor (IDIC) in the photoactive layer. Moreover, researchers saw that the new photoactive layer maintained its initial efficiency, even when the maximum measured thickness being in the range of 300 nm. This will help hasten up the design process, as well as the eventual commercialization of OSCs.
“Photoactive layers in the existing OSCs are rather thin (100 nm), and therefore it has been impossible to handle them via large-area printing process,” said Professor Yang. “The new photoactive layer maintained its initial efficiency, even when the maximum measured thickness being in the range of 300 nm.”
Conventional solar cells are inorganic solar cells that are built with silicon (Si) semiconductors. Although these solar cells are highly efficient and stable, they are quite inflexible and expensive therefore quite challenging to produce. Thus, in recent years, lightweight organic solar cells (OSCs) and perovskite solar cells have caught people’s attention as the potential future candidates for next-generation solar cells.
Although OSCs are high stable and reproducible, their efficiency levels are not nearly as high as that of the perovskite solar cells. In the study, Professor Yang has shown how the issues associated with the thickness of the photoactive layers in OSCs can be solved, thereby taking the idea of large-area printing process one step closer to reality.
“Our study presents a new pathway for the synthesis of non-fullerene photoactive materials,” added Professor Yang. “We hope to further contribute to the production and commercialization of high-efficient OSCs cell.”