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“Reinforced concrete”-like flexible transparent electrode for organic solar cells with high efficiency and mechanical robustness

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Abstract

Flexible transparent electrodes (FTEs) with robust mechanical stability are crucial for the industrial application of flexible organic solar cells (OSCs). However, their production remains challenging owing to the difficulty in balancing the conductivity, transmittance, and adhesion of FTEs to substrates. Herein, we present the so-called “reinforced concrete” strategy which fine-tunes the structure of silver nanowires (AgNWs)-based FTEs with polydopamine (PDA) possessing good adhesion properties and moderate reducibility. The PDA reduces Ag+ to form silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) which grow like “rivets” at the AgNW junction sites; PDA stabilizes the AgNW skeleton and improves the adhesion between the AgNWs and polyethylene ter-ephthalate (PET) substrate and interface layer. The obtained AgNW:PDA:AgNP FTE exhibits excellent optoelectronic properties and high mechanical stability. The resulting flexible OSCs exhibit 17.07% efficiency, high flexibility during 10,000 bending test cycles, and robust peeling stability. In addition, this “reinforced concrete”-like FTE provides great advantages for the production of large-area flexible OSCs, thereby paving a new way toward their commercial application.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51922074, 22075194, 51820105003), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFB1506400), the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (20KJA430010), the Tang Scholar, the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Advanced Optoelectronic Materials, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Novel Semiconductor-optoelectronics Materials and Devices, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Yang Chen, Juanyong Wan, Guiying Xu, Xiaoxiao Wu, Xinqi Li, Yunxiu Shen, Fu Yang, Xuemei Ou, Yaowen Li & Yongfang Li

  2. State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Novel Functional Polymeric Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Dsign and Application, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Yaowen Li

  3. Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences; Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Yongfang Li

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  1. Yang Chen
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Correspondence to Yaowen Li.

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The supporting information is available online at http://chem.scichina.com and http://link.springer.com/journal/11426. The supporting materials are published as submitted, without typesetting or editing. The responsibility for scientific accuracy and content remains entirely with the authors.

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11426_2022_1242_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

“Reinforced Concrete”-Like Flexible Transparent Electrode for Organic Solar Cells with High Efficiency and Mechanical Robustness

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Chen, Y., Wan, J., Xu, G. et al. “Reinforced concrete”-like flexible transparent electrode for organic solar cells with high efficiency and mechanical robustness. Sci. China Chem. 65, 1164–1172 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-022-1242-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-022-1242-9

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