10% Efficient Organic Solar Cells Fabricated from Nanoparticle Dispersions Enabled by Electrical Doping

Christian Sprau^a^,^b, Felix Manger^a^,^b, Philipp Marlow^a^,^b, Karen Fischer^a^,^b, Alexander Colsmann^a^,^b

^aKarlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Material Research Center for Energy Systems, Strasse am Forum 7, 76131 Karlsruhe

^bKarlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Light Technology Institute (LTI), Engesserstrasse 13, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany

Materials for Sustainable Development Conference (MATSUS)
Proceedings of MATSUS Fall 2023 Conference (MATSUSFall23)

#AppPV - Application Targets for Next Generation Photovoltaics

Torremolinos, Spain, 2023 October 16th - 20th

Organizers: Ardalan Armin and Marina Freitag

Oral, Christian Sprau, presentation 243
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.matsus.2023.243
Publication date: 18th July 2023

Solution processing from nanoparticle dispersions allows the use of eco-friendly processing agents for the deposition of organic semiconductor thin-films for photovoltaic and other optoelectronic applications. Omitting surfactants, which are commonly used to stabilize dispersions, is essential to not jeopardize the solar cell performance. So far, solar cells could only be fabricated from surfactant-free P3HT dispersions which show some intrinsic self-stabilization. In this work, the self-stabilization of P3HT nanoparticle dispersions is demystified, and electrostatic effects are identified as the origin of self-stabilization. By application of this gained knowledge, novel surfactant-free nanoparticle dispersions from other, high-performance organic semiconductors are synthesized by nanoprecipitation. Electrical doping via oxidation of the polymer by iodine promotes the electrostatic repulsion of the nanoparticles and hence the colloidal stability of the respective dispersions. For the first time, the corresponding solar cells achieved power conversion efficiencies of up to 10.6%, demonstrating the general feasibility of this alternate, all-eco-friendly processing route.

References:

[1] F. Manger, K. Fischer, P. Marlow, H. Röhm, C. Sprau, A. Colsmann, Iodine-Stabilized Organic Nanoparticle Dispersions for the Fabrication of 10% Efficient Non-Fullerene Solar Cells, Adv. Energy Mater. 2023, 13, 2202820.

[2] F. Manger, P. Marlow, K. Fischer, M. Nöller, C. Sprau, A. Colsmann, Organic Solar Cells: Electrostatic Stabilization of Organic Semiconductor Nanoparticle Dispersions by Electrical Doping, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2022, 32, 2202566.

[3] P. Marlow, F. Manger, K. Fischer, C. Sprau, A. Colsmann, Eco-friendly fabrication of organic solar cells: electrostatic stabilization of surfactant-free organic nanoparticle dispersions by illumination, Nanoscale 2022, 14, 5569-5578.

[4] K. Fischer, P. Marlow, F. Manger, C. Sprau, A. Colsmann, Microfluidics: Continuous-Flow Synthesis of Nanoparticle Dispersions for the Fabrication of Organic Solar Cells, Adv. Mater. Technol. 2022, 7, 2200297.

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