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Colloidal Inorganic–Organic Hybrid Solar Cells

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Organic and Hybrid Solar Cells

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Abstract

Over the last two decades, the need for cheap, clean, and renewable energy has been the driving force behind the field of solution-processable organic photovoltaics (OPV). In contrast to their inorganic counterparts, typical organic semiconductors possess a low relative dielectric constant (~ 3–5), resulting in the formation of a Frenkel exciton upon photoexcitation, as opposed to free charge carriers. Thus, a donor–acceptor heterojunction to separate the exciton is necessary. In 1992, ultrafast electron transfer from conducting polymers to fullerene molecules was reported by Saricifti et al. The subsequent synthesis of a soluble fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC60BM) by Hummelen et al., opened the pathway to the first solution-processable organic solar cells (OSCs) with appreciable efficiency. Almost two decades later, PCBM is still the most widely used acceptor molecule and has been a crucial factor for the rapid progress of the OSC field.

D. M. Balazs and M. J. Speirs contributed equally to this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zernike Institute for Adavanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG, Groningen, Netherlands

    D. M. Balazs, M. J. Speirs & M. A. Loi

  2. Bryce Nelson Bryce Nelson Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, Materials Science, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    M. A. Loi

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  1. D. M. Balazs
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  1. College of Materials Science and Opto-electronic Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Hui Huang

  2. Mechanical & Materials Engineering, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

    Jinsong Huang

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Balazs, D., Speirs, M., Loi, M. (2014). Colloidal Inorganic–Organic Hybrid Solar Cells. In: Huang, H., Huang, J. (eds) Organic and Hybrid Solar Cells. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10855-1_10

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