The project OPVMatInt has just been selected for funding by NCBR, within the XI Poland-Taiwan collaboration program. In partnership with a Taiwanese team led by prof. Johann Lüder (National Sun Yat-Sen University), the Polish team (dr. Iulia Emilia Brumboiu, prof. Paweł Tecmer, and dr. Marta Gałyńska) will investigate the effects of photodegradation and surface defects on a series of organic/inorganic interfaces important in the functioning of organic solar cells (or organic photovoltaics, OPVs).
Organic solar cells have recently achieved excellent power conversion efficiencies, but they still suffer from a lack of operational stability which strongly hinders their commercialization. This lack of stability is due to the photo-induced degradation of the organic active materials, as well as their interfaces, as they are exposed to light and air during the functioning of the solar cell. Using computational methods, the OPVMatInt project will determine the effects of photo-induced chemical modifications, as well as surface defects, on the absorption and charge transport properties of a large database of organic molecules with OPV applications. Ultimately, the goal is to discover more stable organic materials with longer lifetimes, without compromising the solar cell efficiencies.