Pathways toward increased efficiency and lifetime of organic photovoltaics

Abstract

Organic photovoltaics (OPV) have seen a strong growth over the past decennium, attracting researchers worldwide by their appealing features such as flexibility, transparency, light-weight, and the ability to fine-tune the color. This aesthetically attractive nature inspires for instance building, automotive and textile integration. However, device efficiency, stability and production cost are key parameters that need to be addressed further to enable a successful commercialization of this thin film PV technology. In this thesis we have worked on the optimization of two of these parameters, i.e. efficiency and stability, through the design and development of specific conjugated polymers and their evaluation in bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells.