Inkjet printing of highly conductive nanoparticle dispersions for organic electronics

Abstract

Inkjet printing of conductive nanoparticle dispersions and their use in organic electronic devices for multiple purposes like contact pads and electrodes is demonstrated. In this context, we show the printing of semitransparent silver grid/Poly(3,4-ethylene-dioxythiophene) :poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) electrodes and their application in organic photovoltaics (OPV). The cell performance was optimized using finite element simulations accounting for electrical and optical layer properties as well as resolution restrictions given by the inkjet. Furthermore, we demonstrate inkjet printing of silver nanowires (AgNW) and their use as percolation electrode. Characterization reveals low sheet resistance of less than 20 Ω/□ together with a high specular transmittance of more than 90 %, indicating the excellent quality of the inkjet printed layers. Applying them as cathode and anode, fully inkjet printed semitransparent solar cells with power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of up to 4.3 % on an active area of > 1 cm ² are demonstrated.