Collaborative Research: Sustainable Ambient Printed High Efficiency Organic PhotoVoltaics (SAPHE-OPV)

有机光伏（OPV）技术由于其灵活性、重量轻和能源回收时间短等独特特点，具有产生重大经济影响的潜力。为了实现更大的商业应用，OPV需要解决大面积器件效率、稳定性以及良性/可持续和安全生产方面的重大技术挑战。该项目将探索可扩展、环境友好、可持续和操作员安全的基于墨水的加工方法，以在环境空气条件下生产大规模 OPV 设备。该项目的成功将有助于国家能源基础设施的转型，并帮助OPV技术转变为减少化石燃料使用和减少温室气体排放的可持续能源转型技术。参与的研究生和本科生研究人员将受益于该项目的跨学科性质，并将广泛接触材料科学、高分子化学、器件物理等主题，并获得适合科学和工程职业的市场技能。这项工作融入了北卡罗来纳州立大学有机和碳电子实验室 (ORaCEL) 的活动中。总体而言，该研究的跨学科性质及其社会意义为教育推广和课程开发提供了重要机会。该基础研究项目的目标是解决有机光伏技术对环境友好过程的需求。该项目将通过刮刀涂层（一种可扩展的制造技术）制造新型高效半导体聚合物：非富勒烯太阳能电池。 OPV 活性层将使用 (a) 石化溶剂（如苯甲醚、邻甲基苯甲醚和 THF）进行加工，这些溶剂比目前使用的氯化溶剂更安全、更温和，以及 (b) 可再生的绿色生物溶剂，如柠檬烯、乙醇和潜在的水。所需的分子工程将以分子相互作用考虑和详细的结构-功能-形态关系为指导。该项目涉及一个多学科团队，由合成（You）、混溶性/热力学（Ade）、加工（Ade、You、Amassian）、原位表征（Amassian）和形态表征（Ade、Amassian）方面的专家组成。总体策略是通过验证汉森溶解度参数计算、混溶性测量和形态发展的原位监测的分子水平指导来为合成提供反馈。如果成功实施，这项工作将提高工艺实现和经济可行性，并超越当前的最先进水平。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology has the potential of significant economic impact due to its unique features such as flexibility, low weight, and short energy payback time. In order to achieve greater commercial application, OPVs need to address significant technology challenges in large area device efficiency, stability, and benign/sustainable and safe production. This project will explore scalable, environmentally benign, sustainable and operator-safe ink-based processing methods to produce large scale OPV devices in ambient air conditions. The success of this project will contribute to the transformation of the Nation's energy infrastructure and help transition OPV technology to become a sustainable energy transformation technology that reduces fossil fuel use and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The participating graduate and undergraduate researchers will benefit from the interdisciplinary nature of this project and will gain broad exposure to topics of material science, polymer chemistry, device physics and obtain marketable skills for careers in science and engineering. This work is embedded in the activities of the Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratory (ORaCEL) at NCSU. Overall, the interdisciplinary nature of the research and its societal significance provides significant opportunities for educational outreach and curriculum development. The objective of this fundamental research project is to address organic photovoltaic technology needs for environmentally benign processes. This project will fabricate novel high efficiency semi-conducting polymer:non-fullerene based solar cells via blade-coating, a scalable fabrication technique. The OPV active layers will be processed with (a) petrochemical solvents such as anisole, o-methylanisole and THF that are safer and more benign than currently used chlorinated solvents, and (b) renewable, green biosolvents such as limonene, ethanol and potentially water. The molecular engineering needed will be guided by molecular interaction considerations and detailed structure-function-morphology relations. This project involves a multidisciplinary team comprising experts in synthesis (You), miscibility/thermodynamics (Ade), processing (Ade, You, Amassian), in-situ characterization (Amassian), and morphology characterization (Ade, Amassian). The overall strategy will be to provide feedback to the synthesis by validating molecular level guidance from Hansen solubility parameter calculations, miscibility measurements, and in-situ monitoring of morphology development. If successfully implemented, this work will improve process realization and economic feasibility and exceed current state-of-the-art.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.