Bulk heterojunction organic solar cells fabricated using the push coating technique

Kobayashi, Suguru; Kaneto, Daichi; Fujii, Shunjiro; Kataura, Hiromichi; Nishioka, Yasushiro

doi:10.1080/22243682.2014.977821

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Recently, a second attempt to use push-coating for electronic device fabrication resulted in the generation of PSCs with PCEs up to 2.65% (as compared to 3.94% for the reference spin-coated devices). 29 These promising results obtained by using extremely thin single layer PDMS stamps demonstrated that push-coating can be applied not only to OFET fabrication but also to PSCs. However, the push-coated devices displayed much lower device performances compared to those of the spin-coated reference devices and the reproducibility of the photovoltaic performances was rather low with the necessity to use weights on top of the stamps during the process (decreased control over the process).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The combination of these two phenomena provides us with the possibility to form films with higher crystallinitiy degrees at much lower temperatures. Recently, a second attempt to use push-coating for electronic device fabrication resulted in the generation of PSCs with PCEs up to 2.65% (as compared to 3.94% for the reference spin-coated devices) . These promising results obtained by using extremely thin single layer PDMS stamps demonstrated that push-coating can be applied not only to OFET fabrication but also to PSCs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Low-Cost and Green Fabrication of Polymer Electronic Devices by Push-Coating of the Polymer Active Layers

Vohra

Mróz

Inaba

et al. 2017

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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Because of both its easy processability and compatibility with roll-to-roll processes, polymer electronics is considered to be the most promising technology for the future generation of low-cost electronic devices such as light-emitting diodes and solar cells. However, the state-of-the-art deposition technique for polymer electronics (spin-coating) generates a high volume of chlorinated solution wastes during the active layer fabrication. Here, we demonstrate that devices with similar or higher performances can be manufactured using the push-coating technique in which a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) layer is simply laid over a very small amount of solution (less than 1μL/covered cm), which is then left for drying. Using mm thick PDMS provides a means to control the solvent diffusion kinetics (sorption/retention) and removes the necessity for additional applied pressure to generate the desired active layer thickness. Unlike spin-coating, push-coating is a slow drying process that induces a higher degree of crystallinity in the polymer thin film without the necessity for a post-annealing step. The polymer light-emitting diodes and solar cells prepared by push-coating exhibit slightly higher performances with respect to the reference spin-coated devices, whereas at the same time reduce the amounts of active layer materials and chlorinated solvents by 50 and 20 times, respectively. These increased performances can be correlated to the higher polymer crystallinities obtained without applying a post-annealing treatment. As push-coating is a roll-to-roll compatible method, the results presented here open the path to low-cost and eco-friendly fabrication of a wide range of emerging devices based on conjugated polymer materials.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-Cost and Green Fabrication of Polymer Electronic Devices by Push-Coating of the Polymer Active Layers

Vohra

Mróz

Inaba

et al. 2017

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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“…Furthermore, both these strategies are based on spin-coated (SC) thin films, and thus a large amount of costly active material and solvent is discarded during the deposition process. Unlike spin-coating or other common deposition techniques, push-coating produces high-quality conjugated thin films on a given area without generating any material loss. − This relatively unexplored process consists in placing a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film on a small amount of active solution dropped on a substrate. The solution then instantly spreads through capillary forces between the substrate and PDMS, thus producing uniform wet films.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After the solvent diffuses into PDMS, a uniform conjugated polymer (or blend) dry film is formed while the small amount of solvent is temporarily trapped inside PDMS and can be easily recycled (Figure ). Although P3HT-based active layers have been successfully formed by push-coating to produce PSCs with similar PCEs as SC ones, the performances of push-coated (PC) PSCs processed with low band gap copolymers were notably lower than their SC equivalents . Furthermore, up to now, all attempts for PSC fabrication by push-coating have been limited to regular device architectures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although P3HT-based active layers have been successfully formed by push-coating to produce PSCs with similar PCEs as SC ones, the performances of push-coated (PC) PSCs processed with low band gap copolymers were notably lower than their SC equivalents. 29 Furthermore, up to now, all attempts for PSC fabrication by push-coating have been limited to regular device architectures. Several studies on PSCs employing low band gap copolymers (including PCDTBT) suggest that inverted architectures can yield higher performances than regular ones.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Eco-Friendly Push-Coated Polymer Solar Cells with No Active Material Wastes Yield Power Conversion Efficiencies over 5.5%

Inaba

Arai

Mihai

et al. 2019

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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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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Can Polymer Solar Cells Open the Path to Sustainable and Efficient Photovoltaic Windows Fabrication?

Vohra

2018

The Chemical Record

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Sunlight is among the most abundant energy sources available on our planet. Finding adequate solutions to properly and efficiently harvest it is of major importance to potentially solve the global energy crisis. Polymer solar cells have been introduced in the late 20th century as low‐cost and easily processed alternative to the state‐of‐the‐art silicon photovoltaics. Their power conversion efficiencies, which were initially rather low, are constantly improving and now reach values close to 15 %. As their optical properties can be easily tuned, designing active layer which absorb homogeneously throughout the visible spectrum is relatively simple. These peculiar characteristics enable the possibility to fabricate visibly transparent solar cells with high color rendering indices which can be employed as photovoltaic windows. After reviewing some of the most successful examples of polymer solar cell‐based transparent photovoltaic window fabrication, I will discuss the possibility to produce these devices in a sustainable and/or eco‐friendly manner while maintaining their performances.

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Bulk heterojunction organic solar cells fabricated using the push coating technique

Cited by 7 publications

References 29 publications

Low-Cost and Green Fabrication of Polymer Electronic Devices by Push-Coating of the Polymer Active Layers

Low-Cost and Green Fabrication of Polymer Electronic Devices by Push-Coating of the Polymer Active Layers

Eco-Friendly Push-Coated Polymer Solar Cells with No Active Material Wastes Yield Power Conversion Efficiencies over 5.5%

Can Polymer Solar Cells Open the Path to Sustainable and Efficient Photovoltaic Windows Fabrication?

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