Highly efficient and bendable organic solar cells (OSCs) are fabricated using solution‐processed silver nanowire (Ag NW) electrodes. The Ag NW films were highly transparent (diffusive transmittance ≈ 95% at a wavelength of 550 nm), highly conductive (sheet resistance ≈ 10 Ω sq−1), and highly flexible (change in resistance ≈ 1.1 ± 1% at a bending radius of ≈200 μm). Power conversion efficiencies of ≈5.80 and 5.02% were obtained for devices fabricated on Ag NWs/glass and Ag NWs/poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), respectively. Moreover, the bendable devices fabricated using the Ag NWs/PET films decrease slightly in their efficiency (to ≈96% of the initial value) even after the devices had been bent 1000 times with a radius of ≈1.5 mm.

their strong potential as replacements for ITO these materials suffer from the classic trade-off between optical transmittance and electrical conductivity. Thicker layers afford higher conductivity, but this increase comes at the expense of optical transmittance and vice versa. In addition, large-area organic devices built using fl exible transparent conducting electrodes based on these materials exhibit low efficiency, owing to the low conductivity of TCEs, in the absence of additional metal grids. [17][18][19][20][21][22] It is possible to improve the conductivity of TCEs by incorporating metal grids in the organic devices. These metal grids are either deposited by thermal evaporation using a shadow mask, [ 17,18 ] patterned by lithographic methods, [ 19,20 ] or printed. [ 21,22 ] In organic devices, however, there is a limit to how thick the metal grids deposited beneath the organic layer can be. Because the organic layer is extremely thin (typically a few hundred nanometers in thickness), there is the possibility of there being electrical short-circuiting between the metal grids and the top electrode. To prevent this, researchers have tried inserting an insulating layer between the metal grids and the organic layers. [ 19 ] However, this process increases the manufacturing cost. Electrical short circuiting due to the use of printed metal grids can be prevented by embedding the grids in a polymer substrate. [ 24,25 ] Recently, a damascene process was used to fabricate a metalembedding fl exible substrate (MEFS). The process involved the fabrication of trench-like structures on fl exible substrates using imprint lithography. Metal was deposited in the trench-like patterns and this was followed by the removal of any superfl uous metal fi lm by chemical-mechanical polishing. [ 23 ] However, this process is expensive.Here we report a universal method to overcome this trade-off by using a combination of metal-embedding architecture into plastic substrate and ultrathin transparent electrodes, leading to highly transparent (optical transmittance ≈93% at a wavelength of 550 nm), highly conducting (sheet resistance ≈13 Ω ٗ −1 ) and extremely fl exible (bending radius ≈200 μ m) electrodes with very smooth surface. These electrodes were used to fabricate fl exible organic devices that exhibited performances similar or superior to that of devices fabricated on glass substrate. In addition, these fabricated fl exible devices did not show degradation in their performance even after being folded with a radius of ≈200 μ m.Extremely fl exible transparent conducting electrodes are developed using a combination of metal-embedding architecture into plastic substrate and ultrathin transparent electrodes, which leads to highly transparent (optical transmittance ≈93% at a wavelength of 550 nm), highly conducting (sheet resistance ≈13 Ω ᮀ −1 ), and extremely fl exible (bending radius ≈ 200 μ m) electrodes. The electrodes are used to fabricate fl exible organic solar cells and organic light-emitting diodes that exhibit performance sim...

We present how the crystallinity of the electron transport layer can dramatically influence the transient characteristics of organic solar cells. We employed an inverted cell structure using TiOx prepared by atomic layer deposition as an electron transport layer. The device possessing the amorphous phase TiOx exhibited a continuous increase in the device characteristics upon continuous illumination at ambient, which is attributed to the filling of shallow electron traps within the amorphous phase TiOx upon illumination. In contrast, the characteristics of the device with the crystalline phase TiOx showed a negligible increase upon continuous illumination.

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In article 1300474, Jang‐Joo Kim, Jae‐Wook Kang, and co‐workers report the development of extremely flexible transparent conducting electrodes for organic device applications. The electrodes are fabricated using a combination of metal‐embedding architecture into a plastic substrate and ultrathin transparent electrodes and they exhibit high conductivity and extreme flexibility. These electrodes are used to fabricate flexible organic solar cells and organic light‐emitting diodes that exhibit performances similar or superior to those of devices fabricated on glass substrates.