Exploration of polar conjugated polymers for next generation organic photovoltaics (R-6341)

Organic photovoltaics (OPV) have emerged as an attractive technology complementary to other types of solar cells. Major steps forward in the performance of organic/polymer solar cells in recent years have been realized by a better understanding of the mechanism of photon-toelectron conversion, synthesis of a variety of new materials with tailored energy levels and solubility, new processing approaches to induce an optimal active layer morphology, and novel device architectures. To make a next major leap forward, cutting-edge fundamental studies are required. Although different interlayer materials have been shown to largely improve OPV performance, the basic understanding of their working mechanism and in particular the structural details that give rise to the enhanced efficiency are poorly understood. Another key aspect that could impose a significant efficiency gain is the increase of the dielectric constant of the applied photoactive organic materials, a concept that has remained quite elusive. The proposed project aims at a noteworthy contribution to the strategic challenges defined above by the synthesis of a novel generation of (more) hydrophilic conjugated polymers (with enhanced dielectric constants) and their detailed evaluation in organic solar cells, either as interface or photoactive materials.

Keywords:SOLAR CELLS

Disciplines:Macromolecular and materials chemistry, Organic chemistry, Process engineering, Polymeric materials