Engineered Electrodes and Electrode-Organic Interfaces for High-Efficiency Organic Photovoltaics

Marks, Tobin J. ; Chang, R. P. H. ; Mason, Tom ; Poeppelmeier, Ken ; Freeman, Arthur J.

Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)

关键词: Efficiency;    14 Solar Energy;    Electrodes;    Solar Cells;    Adhesion;   

DOI  :  10.2172/940916
RP-ID  :  DOE/ER/46320
RP-ID  :  FG02-06ER46320
RP-ID  :  940916

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

Organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells offer the ultimate promise of low cost, readily manufacturable, and durable solar power. While recent advances have led to cells with impressive performance levels, OPV cells have yet to break the double-digit efficiency barrier. Further gains in efficiency and durability, to that competitive with high-performance inorganic photovoltaics will require breakthroughs in transparent electrode and interfacial materials science and engineering. This project involved an integrated basic research effort carried out by an experienced and highly collaborative interdisciplinary team to address in unconventional ways, critical electrode-interfacial issues underlying OPV performance--controlling band offsets between transparent electrodes and organics, addressing current loss/leakage problems at interfaces, enhancing adhesion, interfacial stability, and device durability while minimizing cost. It synergistically combined materials and interfacial reagent synthesis, nanostructural and photovoltaic characterization, and high level quantum theory. The research foci were: 1) understanding of/development of superior transparent electrode materials and materials morphologies--i.e., better matched electronically and chemically to organic active layers, 2) understanding-based development of inorganic interfacial current-collecting/charge-blocking layers, and 3) understanding-based development of self-assembled adhesion/current-collecting/charge-blocking/cross-linking layers for high-efficiency OPV interfaces. Pursing the goal of developing the fundamental scientific understanding needed to design, fabricate, prototype and ultimately test high-efficiency OPV cells incorporating these new concepts, we achieved a record power conversion efficiency of 5.2% for an organic bulk-heterjunction solar cell.