High-Throughput Optimization of Organic Photovoltaics for Performance and Stability

Abstract

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) demonstrate great potential for low-cost and low-energy intensity electricity production. Progress in OPVs historically arises from discovery of new organic semiconductors. However, the molecular and polymeric organic semiconductor design space is vast and performance evaluation in new materials is slow. Adding to the challenge, device optimization has been overly focused only on highest efficiency, generally incorporating processes at odds with scale-up and durability efforts that precede commercialization. We have developed a framework to address this problem, named HOOPS (high-throughput optimization of OPVs for performance and stability), where device fabrication variables that affect both performance and stability are equally weighted in an iterative feedback loop while optimizing device fabrication processes. Applicable to all layers of the OPV, PTQ-10:Y6-BO, and ZnO are used as an exemplary materials in an inverted architecture OPV where HOOPS reveals that a performance and stability optimum is not always achieved by the same fabrication methods used to achieve exclusively top initial performance. The results underscore the importance of both high-throughput methods as well as an equal focus on performance and stability, especially early in research as OPVs continue to transition from lab to market.