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On the Importance of Morphology Control for Printable Solar Cells

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Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Through Nanotechnology

Part of the book series: Green Energy and Technology ((GREEN))

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Abstract

Polymer and hybrid solar cells have the potential to become the leading technology of the twenty-first century to convert sunlight to electrical energy because they can be easily processed from solution printing devices in a roll-to-roll fashion with high speed and low-cost. The performance of such devices critically depends on the nanoscale organization of the photoactive layer, which is composed of at least two functional materials, the electron donor and the electron acceptor forming a bulk-heterojunction; however, control of its volume morphology still is a challenge. The main requirements for the morphology of efficient photoactive layers are nanoscale phase separation for a large donor/acceptor interface area and hence efficient exciton dissociation, short and continuous percolation pathways of both components leading through the layer thickness to the corresponding electrodes for efficient charge transport and collection, and high crystallinity of both donor and acceptor materials for high charge mobility. In this chapter we review recent progress of our understanding on how the efficiency of a bulk-heterojunction printable solar cell largely depends on the local nanoscale volume organization of the photoactive layer.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to use this opportunity to thank René Janssen, Martijn Wienk, Jan Kroon, Sjoerd Veenstra, Volker Schmidt, and Xiaoniu Yang for helpful discussions. Supported by the Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI), the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW), and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant 2009J2-28: Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Svetlana S. van Bavel & Joachim Loos

  2. Dutch Polymer Institute, P.O. Box 902, 5600 AX, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Svetlana S. van Bavel & Joachim Loos

  3. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Scotland, UK

    Joachim Loos

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  1. Svetlana S. van Bavel
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  2. Joachim Loos
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Correspondence to Joachim Loos .

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  1. , Department of Materials Science and, University of Utah, S. Central Campus Drive 122, Salt Lake City, 84112, Utah, USA

    Ling Zang

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van Bavel, S.S., Loos, J. (2011). On the Importance of Morphology Control for Printable Solar Cells. In: Zang, L. (eds) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Through Nanotechnology. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-638-2_5

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