Proceedings of nanoGe Spring Meeting 2022 (NSM22)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.nsm.2022.169
Publication date: 7th February 2022
With the recent substantial leap in power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells, partly driven by formulations with new non-fullerene acceptors, new challenges has arisen as regards the fundamental understanding of the connection between mesoscale structure and the active layer performance. Unless this connection is understood and controlled, it will not be possible to overcome the recurring lab-to-fab challenge, or the scaling lag, as it is sometimes referred to. Typically, no less than 50% efficiency is lost when scaling up from minute, spin-coated devices to the large areas that are required for commercially viable modules.
We have identified three crucial focus points for overcoming the lab-to-fab challenge: (i) dual temperature control, i.e. simultaneous control of the ink and substrate temperatures during deposition, (ii) systematic in situ morphology studies of active layer inks with new, green solvent formulations during continuous deposition, and (iii) development of protocols for continuous solution processing of smooth, transparent interfacial layers with efficient charge transfer to the active layer. Combining these efforts and in general accompanying such studies with stability analyses and fabrication of large-area, scalably processed devices are believed to accelerate the relevance of organic solar cells for large-scale energy supply [1].
In this presentation, I focus on our efforts in developing an in-line methodology that is supported by molecular dynamics simulation [2] in order to disentangle the scattering fingerprints that may eventually be used to steer mesoscale structure formation to achieve the optimal photovoltaic performance of a bulk heterojunction. As will be shown, the methodology may be applied both on laboratory scale setups [3] as well as on synchrotron beam lines [4], and may even be used in conjunction with coating conditions far removed from ambient, i.e. with fully heated solution, coating head and substrate to handle materials that otherwise quickly aggregate and gelate. In combination with optical probes and machine learning techniques, the methodology is expected to close the lab-to-fab gap that continues to hold back the commercial breakthrough of organic solar cells.
The authors acknowledge financial support from the H2020 European Research Council through the SEEWHI Consolidator grant, ERC-2015-CoG-681881 and through the instrumentation centre grant DANSCATT – 7055-00001B funded by the Danish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education.
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