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A team of researchers from two Chinese universities claims to have fabricated an organic solar cell with the highest power-to-weight ratio to date. The device is less than 1.5 micrometers thick.
Researchers from Wuhan University of Technology and Central South University Changsha in China have fabricated an ultra-thin organic solar cell with a hole transport layer (HTL) bilayer and a power-to-weight ratio of 39 W/g.
Wenchao Huang, lead author of the research, told pv magazine that, as far as the group knows, this is the organic solar cell with the highest power-to-weight ratio. The device is less than 1.5 micrometers thick.
The scientists explained that the bilayer HTL incorporates a molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) interlayer between PEDOT:PSS, a blend of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) and polystyrene sulfonate polymers, and indium tin oxide (ITO), and stated that the introduction of this interlayer was the key factor that enabled the cell to achieve a remarkable power conversion efficiency of 17%, as well as good storage and mechanical stability.
After 2000 hours of storage, the device maintained 91.4% of its original efficiency. It also recorded 89.1% efficiency retention after 1,000 cycles of bending at a bend radius of 1 m and 84.4% efficiency retention after 1,000 cycles of a compression stretch test at a compression ratio of 30%.
According to the researchers, these results mean that the device “significantly outperforms” devices without the MoO3 interlayer. “The use of a MoO3/PEDOT:PSS HTL bilayer instead of pristine PEDOT:PSS provides a straightforward approach to develop efficient and mechanically robust ultrathin organic solar cells,” they added.
Huang added that the cells can seamlessly adhere to surfaces such as human skin, soft robotics, mobile phones, clothing and windows with negligible added weight. “These ultra-thin organic solar cells can generate 39 watts of power per gram, about a hundred times more than conventional flexible solar cells. They show great application potential in the field of wearable electronics,” he also said.
The device is described in the research paper “ High-efficiency ultrathin flexible organic solar cells with a bilayer hole transport layer ,” published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry .
Earlier this year, the same research team fabricated a semi-transparent organic solar cell with a bifaciality factor of 99.1%, the highest recorded to date in semi-transparent organic cells. |
