Open AccessFunctional Interfaces in Polymer-Based Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells: Establishment of a Cluster for Interdisciplinary Research and Training
Author(s) -
Alan J. Heeger,
ThucQuyen Nguyen
Publication year - 2009
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/946053
Subject(s) - polymer solar cell , materials science , cluster (spacecraft) , layer (electronics) , nanotechnology , function (biology) , mechanism (biology) , energy conversion efficiency , polymer , active layer , engineering physics , optoelectronics , computer science , engineering , physics , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , composite material , quantum mechanics , thin film transistor , programming language
Remarkable scientific progress has been demonstrated toward the creation of a low cost (“printable”) solar cell technology by the interdisciplinary group at UC Santa Barbara. Multi-layer architectures were implemented with clean interfaces were demonstrated; the various interfaces are sharp; there is no evidence of inter-layer mixing. This is indeed remarkable since each of these layers was processed from solution. The use of “Processing Additives” such as the alkanedithiols was demonstrated to increase the power conversion efficiency of BHJ solar cells by a factor of two. Equally important, the mechanism by which these Processing Additives function has been identified