Recent Progress of Printing Technologies for High-Efficient Organic Solar Cells

Abstract

Organic solar cells (OSCs), as a renewable energy technology that converts solar energy into electricity, have exhibited great application potential. With the rapid development of novel materials and device structures, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of non-fullerene OSCs has been increasingly enhanced, and over 19% has currently been achieved in single-junction devices. Compared with rigid silicon cells, OSCs have the characteristics of low cost, high flexibility, lightweight, and their inherent solution processability, which enables the devices to be manufactured by using printing technology for commercial applications. In recent years, to maximize the device performance of OSCs, many efforts have been devoted to improving the morphologies and properties of the active layer through various novel printing technologies. Herein, in this review, the recent progress and applications of several popular printing technologies to fabricate high-efficient OSCs are summarized, including blade-coating, slot-die coating, gravure printing, screen printing, inkjet printing, etc. The strengths and weaknesses of each printing technology are also outlined in detail. Ultimately, the challenges and opportunities of printing technology to fabricate OSC devices in industrial manufacturing are also presented.