Solution processable organic polymers and small molecules for bulk-heterojunction solar cells: A review

Journal Article · Thu Oct 20 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3646775· OSTI ID:21612018

Sharma, G D ^[1]

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1. Physics Department, Molecular Electronic and Optoelectronic Device Laboratory JNV University, Jodhpur (Raj.) 342005 (India)

Solution processed bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells (OSCs) have gained wide interest in past few years and are established as one of the leading next generation photovoltaic technologies for low cost power production. Power conversion efficiencies up to 6% and 6.5% have been reported in the literature for single layer and tandem solar cells, respectively using conjugated polymers. A recent record efficiency about 8.13% with active area of 1.13 cm{sup 2} has been reported. However Solution processable small molecules have been widely applied for photovoltaic (PV) devices in recent years because they show strong absorption properties, and they can be easily purified and deposited onto flexible substrates at low cost. Introducing different donor and acceptor groups to construct donor--acceptor (D--A) structure small molecules has proved to be an efficient way to improve the properties of organic solar cells (OSCs). The power conversion efficiency about 4.4 % has been reported for OSCs based on the small molecules. This review deals with the recent progress of solution processable D--A structure small molecules and discusses the key factors affecting the properties of OSCs based on D--A structure small molecules: sunlight absorption, charge transport and the energy level of the molecules.

• OSTI ID: 21612018
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1391, Issue 1; Conference: OPTICS 2011: International conference on light - Optics: phenomena, materials, devices, and characterization, Calicut, Kerala (India), 23-25 May 2011; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3646775; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
14 SOLAR ENERGY
ABSORPTION
CHARGE EXCHANGE
CHARGE TRANSPORT
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY CONVERSION
ENERGY LEVELS
HETEROJUNCTIONS
LAYERS
MOLECULES
ORGANIC POLYMERS
ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC EFFECT
SOLUTIONS
SUBSTRATES
CONVERSION
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
DISPERSIONS
EQUIPMENT
HOMOGENEOUS MIXTURES
MIXTURES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
POLYMERS
SEMICONDUCTOR JUNCTIONS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SORPTION