Solar Cells with Inkjet Printed Polymer Layers

Inkjet printing can be used to deposit large area, functional polymer layers for organic solar cells with limited material waste. In this work, solar cells were produced with inkjet printed polymer:small molecule active layers or inkjet printed hole transport layers. For device active layers, two classes of polymers were printed, semi-crystalline or amorphous, and solar cell performance was examined after different thermal treatments or after deposition from different solvent systems, respectively. Conventional devices were also prepared with inkjet printed hole transport layers as well as with printed grid structures located between the hole transport and active layers. Grid structures are useful because an increased contact area with the active layer could result in more charge extraction. Overall, inkjet printing is well suited to deposit the polymer layers of solar cells with limited performance reduction.