Development of Soluble Small Molecules for use in Plastic Solar Cells

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The Nobel prize winning discovery that organic polymers can act as semiconductors has led to a worldwide academic and industrial research effort focused on the development of these materials and their utilization in electronic devices including lighting, transistors, and solar cells. Compared to traditional inorganic materials, organics offer the ability to be processed from solution onto light weight and flexible substrates. Specifically, such 'conductive inks' can be printed via roll to roll fabrication techniques, similar to that of newspaper printing, making these technologies extremely cost effective. Materials innovation represents a critical aspect for the progression of organic electronics. This proposal is based off the very recent discovery that well-defined small molecules can form desirable structures through processing from solution. Until now, solution processing has required high molecular weight polymers which suffer from complex supramolecular structures, whereas low molecular weight species have required deposition by vacuum sublimation. Combining the virtue of well-defined molecular synthesis with those of solution processing provides a very important new opportunity for the advancement of organic electronics. The proposed research is focused on the development of new soluble small molecules for use in organic solar cells. Organic solar cells are light, flexible, semi-transparent, and more environmentally-friendly than traditional inorganic based cells. These properties open up possibilities for exciting new applications, including building integration and portable solar power. Successful completion of this project will produce highly trained personnel with a broad education in chemistry and materials science, and scientifically lead to improvements in the performance and reliability of organic solar cells, bringing this technology one step closer to wide spread commercialization.