International Collaborative Laboratory of 2D Materials for Optoelectronics Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Institute of Microscale Optoelectronics, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Shijie Zhan
School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, United Kingdom
Zhe Li
School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS), Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom
Wenlong Ming
School of Engineering, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, United Kingdom
Gehan A. J. Amaratunga
Electrical Engineering Division, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, 9 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB30FA, United Kingdom
Bo Hou
School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, United Kingdom
Solar energy is potentially the largest source of renewable energy for providing electrical power for human society. However, significant advances are required to make photovoltaic technologies have a low-carbon footprint in manufacture, be environmentally friendly at the end of their lives through recyclability, and be biodegradable. Here we report dissolvable organic photovoltaic devices based on poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), which show equal power conversion efficiency to their glass substrate-based counterparts. We use a novel method of including smectic liquid crystal (7-dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2- b][1]benzothiophene, C8-BTBT) as a crystal phase regulator in the heterojunction donor:acceptor polymer system to maintain the disposable organic solar cell efficiency without pre- or post-thermal annealing. The results show strong promise not only for more sustainable solar-cell fabrication but also as disposable and biocompatible solar cells for self-powered (energy harvesting) wearable and biomedical devices.
