Electropolymerized PV Cells

Electropolymerization offers numerous advantages for making the cheap and resilient layers of semiconducting polymer layers which would be required for a commercially viable plastic solar cells. But until now the layers were too defective. By analysing the literature and adding our own observations, we have used reverse-pulse electropolymerization to make a relatively perfect layer of plain (unsubstituted) polythiophene. Plain polythiophene has much better resistance to photo-oxidation than alkyl-substituted polythiophenes; it cannot be deposited by solvent evaporation because it is insoluble. We have also produced a small PV cell using electropolymerized polythiophene as electron donor, and carbon nanotubes as acceptor material.

VIGNALI Marinka;  EDWARDS Robert;  CUNNANE Vincent; 

2006-03-16

WIP Munich

JRC31744