Buckled Topography to Enhance Light Absorption in Thin Film Organic Photovoltaics Comprising CuPc/C60 Bilayer Laminates
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Ying Liu
Abstract
Organic photovoltaic (OPVs) devices are promising due to their low cost, light weight, and compatibility with high throughput processing on flexible substrates. This paper demonstrates a simple process utilizing thin-film instabilities to enhance light absorption in OPVs in a way that is compatible with planar processing and the customary thermal annealing steps. Placing a thin, transparent polystyrene (PS) film between the glass substrate and the transparent conductive indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode results in the formation of periodic surface buckles in the PS layer due to induced strain caused by thermal expansion mismatch between the ITO and PS films. OPVs comprising bilayer laminates of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) and fullerene (C60) deposited onto buckled the ITO/PS substrate show enhanced light absorption due to the longer path-length and improved power conversion efficiency (20%) relative to a similar planar device. This approach is appealing because it takes advantage of naturally-occurring surface topography (i. e., buckling) without the need for any sophisticated patterning. This work is distinguished from other buckling strategies for OPVs by the use of ITO as a transparent, conductive electrode and the absence of additional processing steps.
Supplementary material
the online version of this article (DOI: 10.1515/zpch-2014-0592) provides supplementary material for authorized users.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the grant from the NSRDEC, Grant No. W911QY-10-C-0027.
©2015 Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Gerhard Findenegg: A Scientific Life in Soft Matter at Interfaces
- Nanoparticles via Oil-in-Water Microemulsions: a Solvent-Reduced, Energy-Efficient Approach
- Formation of Anisometric Fumed Silica Supraparticles – Mechanism and Application Potential
- Multidirectional, Multicomponent Electric Field Driven Assembly of Complex Colloidal Chains
- Polymer Brush/Metal Nanoparticle Hybrids for Optical Sensor Applications: from Self-Assembly to Tailored Functions and Nanoengineering
- Poly-acrylic Acid Brushes and Adsorbed Proteins
- Interactions of Two Fragments of the Human Antimicrobial Peptide LL-37 with Zwitterionic and Anionic Lipid Monolayers
- Depletion Interaction Mediated by fd-Virus: on the Limit of Low Density and Derjaguin Approximation
- Transport Properties of Polyelectrolyte Solutions. Effect of Confinement in Thin Liquid Films
- Relationship Between Pore Structure and Sorption-Induced Deformation in Hierarchical Silica-Based Monoliths
- Ammonia Dissociation on Graphene Oxide: An Ab Initio Density Functional Theory Calculation
- Responsive Microgels at Surfaces and Interfaces
- Buckled Topography to Enhance Light Absorption in Thin Film Organic Photovoltaics Comprising CuPc/C60 Bilayer Laminates
