Environmentally Friendly Solvent-Processed Organic Solar Cells that are Highly Efficient and Adaptable for the Blade-Coating Method

Abstract

The power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of state-of-the-art organic solar cells (OSCs) have increased to over 13%. However, the most commonly used solvents for making the solutions of photoactive materials and the coating methods used in laboratories are not adaptable for future practical production. Therefore, taking a solution-coating method with environmentally friendly processing solvents into consideration is critical for the practical utilization of OSC technology. In this study, a highly efficient PBTA-TF:IT-M-based device processed with environmentally friendly solvents, tetrahydrofuran/isopropyl alcohol (THF/IPA) and o-xylene/1-phenylnaphthalene, is fabricated; a high PCE of 13.1% can be achieved by adopting the spin-coating method, which is the top result for OSCs. More importantly, a blade-coated non-fullerene OSC processed with THF/IPA is demonstrated for the first time to obtain a promising PCE of 11.7%; even for the THF/IPA-processed large-area device (1.0 cm²) made by blade-coating, a PCE of 10.6% can still be maintained. These results are critical for the large-scale production of highly efficient OSCs in future studies.

Highly efficient non-fullerene organic solar cells (OSCs) are fabricated, processed with environmentally friendly solvents, tetrahydrofuran/isopropyl alcohol (THF/IPA) and o-xylene/1-phenylnaphthalene, respectively. The highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 13.1% can be achieved by adopting the spin-coating method, which is the top result for OSCs. When the blade-coating method is used in an ambient atmosphere, the THF/IPA-processed device maintains a high PCE of 11.7%.

http://ift.tt/2yORi0n