SPEAKER:
Mr Christopher Proctor, UCSB (University of California, Santa Barbara)
SYNOPSIS:
Solar cells made from solution processed small molecules offer the potential of flexible, light weight solar panels that can be manufactured using inexpensive techniques such as roll-to-roll coating and ink-jet printing. Power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of solar cell device made from a blend of electron donating molecules and electron accepting fullerenes have risen rapidly in recent years with recent reports approaching 10%. This achievement demonstrates that solar cells fabricated from blends of small molecule donors and fullerene acceptors are a viable alternative to the polymer:fullerene based systems that have received the bulk of research attention to date.
Advantages of using small molecules as donors include the ease of synthesis and purification. Moreover, in contrast to polymers, conjugated small molecules do not suffer from broad molecular weight distributions or batch to batch variations. This presentation will overview advances in solution processed small molecule solar cells with a focus on strategies to identify and overcome loss mechanisms in order to aid the development of the next generation of molecular based photovoltaics.