Researchers report flexible organic photovoltaics (OPVs) with enhanced thermal stability and high power conversion efficiency (PCE). Flexible photovoltaic devices offer a potential solution for supplying electrical power to wearable sensors and electronic devices. However, current OPVs lack the thermal stability and power conversion requirements to enable the optimal performance of such devices. Xiaomin Xu and colleagues developed an ultraflexible OPV with increased PCE and thermal stability. The 3-μm-thick device consists of a robust polymer microstructure and an ultrathin plastic substrate and barrier coating that enable high thermal stability. The authors conducted stability and lifetime testing of the OPV in air chambers in which the OPV was exposed to different temperatures. During tests in which the OPV cells were kept at air temperatures of 120 °C and 130 °C, the authors observed decreases of initial PCE by 7.4% and 13.8%, respectively; in comparison, another OPV polymer design exhibited a 37.6% decrease in initial PCE at 130 °C. Moreover, the ultrathin OPV maintained 80% of the initial PCE at over 500 hours of continuous thermal stress at 85 °C. The findings may have implications for power generation for common electronic devices, according to the authors.
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Article #18-01187: "Thermally stable, highly efficient, ultraflexible organic photovoltaics," by Xiaomin Xu et al.
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences