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Inaba S, Arai R, Mihai G, Lazar O, Moise C, Enachescu M, Takeoka Y, Vohra V. Eco-Friendly Push-Coated Polymer Solar Cells with No Active Material Wastes Yield Power Conversion Efficiencies over 5.5. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2019; 11:10785-10793. [PMID: 30788961 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b22337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Push-coating is a simple process that can be employed for extremely low-cost polymer electronic device production. Here, we demonstrate its application to the fabrication of poly(2,7-carbazole- alt-dithienylbenzothiadiazole) (PCDTBT):[6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) active layers processed in air, yielding similar photovoltaic performances as thermally annealed spin-coated thin films when used in inverted polymer solar cells (PSCs). During push-coating, the polydimethylsiloxane layer temporarily traps the deposition solvent, resulting in simultaneous film formation and solvent annealing effect. This removes the necessity for a postdeposition thermal annealing step which is required for spin-coated PSCs to produce high photovoltaic performances. Optimized PSC active layers are produced with a push-coating time of 5 min at room temperature with 20 times less hazardous solvent and 40 times less active material than spin-coating. Annealed spin-coated active layers and active layers push-coated for 5 min both produce average power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 5.77%, while those push-coated for a shorter time of 1 min yield a slightly lower value of 5.59%. We demonstrate that, despite differences in their donor:acceptor vertical concentration gradients, unencapsulated PCDTBT:PC71BM active layers push-coated for 1 min produce PSCs with similar operational stability and upscaling capacity as thermally annealed spin-coated ones. As fast device fabrication can be achieved with short-time push-coating, we further demonstrate the potential of this deposition technique by manufacturing push-coated PSC-based semitransparent photovoltaic devices with a PCE of 4.23%, relatively neutral colors and an average visible transparency of 40.2%. Our work thus confirms that push-coating is not limited to the widely employed poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) but can also be used with low band gap copolymers and opens the path to low-cost and eco-friendly, yet efficient and stable PSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shusei Inaba
- Department of Engineering Science , University of Electro-Communications , 1-5-1 Chofugaoka , Chofu City , 182-8585 Tokyo , Japan
| | - Ryosuke Arai
- Department of Materials & Life Sciences , Sophia University , 7-1 Kioicho , Chiyoda Ward , 102-8554 Tokyo , Japan
| | - Geanina Mihai
- Center for Surface Science and Nanotechnology , University Politehnica of Bucharest , Splaiul Independentei nr. 313 , 060042 Bucharest , Romania
| | - Oana Lazar
- Center for Surface Science and Nanotechnology , University Politehnica of Bucharest , Splaiul Independentei nr. 313 , 060042 Bucharest , Romania
| | - Calin Moise
- Center for Surface Science and Nanotechnology , University Politehnica of Bucharest , Splaiul Independentei nr. 313 , 060042 Bucharest , Romania
| | - Marius Enachescu
- Center for Surface Science and Nanotechnology , University Politehnica of Bucharest , Splaiul Independentei nr. 313 , 060042 Bucharest , Romania
| | - Yuko Takeoka
- Department of Materials & Life Sciences , Sophia University , 7-1 Kioicho , Chiyoda Ward , 102-8554 Tokyo , Japan
| | - Varun Vohra
- Department of Engineering Science , University of Electro-Communications , 1-5-1 Chofugaoka , Chofu City , 182-8585 Tokyo , Japan
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