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N-ink, a spin-off company from Linköping University, has developed conductive inks that can be used in the charge extraction layer of organic solar cells and in the transport layers of perovskite solar cells. Swedish startup N-ink has launched an n-type conductive ink that can be used in the charge extraction layer of organic solar cells (OPV) as well as in the transport layers of perovskite solar cells. The company offers three formulations of its ink, which it says has high electron conductivity, from 0.01 S/cm to 3000 S/cm, and thermal stability. It can reportedly withstand testing for 24 hours at 200ºC and 1 hour at 350ºC in nitrogen. “In the past, n-type polymers never achieved the performance and scalability of p-type polymers,” Marc-Antoine Stoeckel, COO and co-founder of N-ink, told pv magazine . “We have now developed a polymer-based n-type ink that has the electrical conductivity and energy efficiency required for indoor and outdoor photovoltaics.” In addition to performance and handling advantages, the N-ink material has several other advantages. “It enables a fully printed photovoltaic process. It is an alcohol- or water-based precursor, halogen-free and environmentally friendly,” explains Stoeckel, adding that it can reduce manufacturing costs for photovoltaic material, while offering the advantages of polymeric material, such as flexibility. The company has several research projects underway with partners from the European photovoltaic industry. It is also a member of the Sunrey consortium, a Horizon Europe-funded research project with 13 partners working on processes and materials to fabricate highly efficient lead-free perovskite devices. “We are also working on inks for the capacitor market and providing a PFAS-free alternative for use in lithium-ion battery research,” Stoeckel explains. Formulations tailored to OPV and perovskite solar cells can be ordered directly from the website, Stoeckel added. n-ink, a spin-off of Linköping Universitys Organic Electronics Laboratory, was founded in 2020 and has raised a total of €2 million ($2.06 million) in equity funding to date. Their conductive ink technology based on BBL:PEI, short for poly(benzimidazobenzophenanthroline):poly(ethyleneimine), is described in “ A high-conductivity n-type polymeric ink for printed electronics,” published in 2021 in Nature . |
