MATERIALS | PHOTOVOLTAICS
Right: Linköping University researchers have adapted an organic solar cell material for use in a light sensor
nanometres thick,” said Trimmel. “To isolate decom- position products in them, very special methods and instruments are needed.” In addition, the researchers are using approach- es based on artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyse the large amounts of data generated. The results will allow detailed deduc- tions of the chemical decomposition processes. As well as physical tests, digital simulations of chemical compounds will find the most suitable materials for the next generation of organic photovoltaic cells.
At a stretch Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a new conductive polymer material – to produce what they called the world’s best-performing ‘stretchable’ organic solar cell. Organic solar cells have a photoactive layer
made from organic materials such as plastics – rath- er than silicon. Because they are lighter and more flexible, this makes them appropriate in applica- tions such as wearable electrical devices. The team joined a highly stretchable polymer with an electrically conductive polymer using chemical bonding – and developed a new conductive polymer with electrical conductivity and mechanical stretch- ability. The polymer claims a photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 19%, and 10 times the stretchability of existing devices. The device can be stretched up to 40% during operation, making it highly suitable for wearable devices, said the researchers. “It is significant that we developed a new polymer that can be used as a base material for various electronic devices that need to be malle- able or elastic,” said Bumjoon Kim, a professor in the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering at KAIST. This research was supported by the National
Research Foundation of Korea and published in the journal Joule.
Tin boost
Scientists in the Netherlands have boosted the efficiency of an organic solar cell using a very thin layer of tin oxide. Organic solar cells typically have a lower efficien- cy than conventional silicon-based ones. Now, physicists from the University of Groningen have fabricated an organic solar cell with an efficiency of over 17%, which they say is in the top range for this type of material. In addition, the device structure is produced using a scalable technique. The design uses a conductive layer of tin oxide
that is grown by atomic layer deposition. The scientists also have several ideas to further improve the efficiency and stability of the cell they say, in a paper published in the journal Advanced Materials. “In most organic solar cells, the electron trans-
port layer is made of zinc oxide – a highly transpar- ent and conductive material that lies below the active layer,” said David Garcia Romero, a PhD student in the photophysics and optoelectronics group at the university. “Zinc oxide is more photo- reactive than tin oxide – so the latter should lead to a higher device stability.”
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IMAGE: OLOV PLANTHABER, LINKÖPING UNIVERSITY
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