Transparent polymer cathode for organic photovoltaic devices

Journal article, 2006

A prototype solar cell with a transparent polymer cathode and an ITO/poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene)-poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) anode was fabricated. As an active layer, a thin film of a bulk heterojunction of polyfluorene copolymer, poly[2,7-(9,9-dioctyl-fluorene)-alt-5,5-(4',7'-di-2-thienyl-2',1',3'-benzothiadiazole)] (APFO-3) and an electron acceptor mol. [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid Me ester (PCBM) (1:4 by wt.) was sandwiched between the 2 transparent polymer electrodes. The cathode is another form of PEDOT formed by vapor phase polymd. PEDOT (VPP PEDOT) with a cond. 102-103 S/cm. The cathode is supported on an elastomeric substrate and forms a conformal contact to the APFO-3/PCBM blend. Transparent solar cells are useful for building multilayer and tandem solar cells. [on SciFinder (R)]