Pavlo PERKHUN - EARLY STAGE RESEARCHER - 2017 CLASS

In the field of the research of new or improved photovoltaic technologies, polymer solar cells (PSCs) are the promising approach to produce the low-cost solar photovoltaic energy using print-production technologies. Due to their flexibility, semi-transparency and tunable colors, PSCs are not only interesting for the integration of photovoltaics in architecture, but also can be a good source of electricity production for electronic devices. While the performance and stability of PSCs have been limited by the use of fullerenes as acceptors, new high performance non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) have been developed very recently with the potential to solve the main problems of PSCs.

The aim of the thesis research project is to develop new printable organic materials based on NFAs in order to increase the performance of printed PSCs. Photovoltaic inks based on these NFAs will be developed for the digital printing of solar cells. This technique uses inkjet printers to locally print solar cells by supplying electrical energy to the systems. The research project will focus on the manufacturing of appropriate NFA-based inks with commercial donors for the complete printing of polymer solar cells with 10% efficiency. This achievement will not only increase knowledge about the unique properties of NFAs which will improve the polymer-based solar cells, but more importantly, will demonstrate their industrial relevance to the production of high efficient organic solar panels by digital printing.