Organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells have the potential to make a significant contribution to the increasing energy needs of the future. Performance, lifetime, and cost have improved quickly in recent years and are progressively approaching market requirements while fast and inexpensive roll-to-roll deposition technologies allowing also for the use of flexible substrates are expected to enable the necessary manufacturing capability.
This book explores the required characteristics of the components present in an OPV device, such as transparent electrodes, electron- and hole-conducting layers, as well as electron donor and -acceptor materials. It discusses the design, preparation, and evaluation of these materials targeting the highest performance. This includes contributions on modeling down to the molecular level to device-level electrical and optical testing and modeling, as well as layer morphology control and characterization. Taking into account the necessity to optimize many interdependent parameters, the text describes the integration of various components using existing as well as innovative device architectures suitable for mass production. Finally, it assesses the technical feasibility and economic viability of the large-scale manufacture of materials and resulting devices.
About the Editors:
Barry P. Rand is assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University, USA. Prior to joining Princeton University, he was at imec, Belgium, ultimately as a principal scientist, researching the understanding, optimization, and manufacturability of thin-film solar cells. Prof. Rand’s research interests highlight the border between electrical engineering, materials science, chemistry, and applied physics, covering electronic and optoelectronic thin films and devices, devices composed of nanostructured media, and plasmonics. He has authored more than 60 refereed journal publications and has 14 issued US patents.
Henning Richter was trained as a chemist in Germany and Belgium and has been working for more than 15 years on the synthesis and characterization of carbonaceous nanostructures. He is currently director of Materials Synthesis Research at Nano-C, Inc., and visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Before joining Nano-C in 2001, he conducted research on fullerene and soot formation in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the MIT. At Nano-C, he has been involved in the further development of selective combustion synthesis of fullerenes and single-walled carbon nanotubes as well as their purification and chemical functionalization to mature industrial processes. In his ongoing work, Dr. Richter is particularly interested in the design of fullerene derivatives with selected physical, chemical, and electronic properties. Henning is co-inventor of several patents and patent applications for the production, separation, and purification of fullerenic materials as well as their use in organic photovoltaics.
