Waterproof and ultraflexible organic photovoltaics with improved interface adhesion

Sixing Xiong, Kenjiro Fukuda (), Kyohei Nakano, Shinyoung Lee, Yutaro Sumi, Masahito Takakuwa, Daishi Inoue, Daisuke Hashizume, Baocai Du, Tomoyuki Yokota, Yinhua Zhou, Keisuke Tajima and Takao Someya ()
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Sixing Xiong: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)
Kenjiro Fukuda: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)
Kyohei Nakano: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)
Shinyoung Lee: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)
Yutaro Sumi: The University of Tokyo
Masahito Takakuwa: The University of Tokyo
Daishi Inoue: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)
Daisuke Hashizume: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)
Baocai Du: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)
Tomoyuki Yokota: The University of Tokyo
Yinhua Zhou: Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Keisuke Tajima: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)
Takao Someya: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Ultraflexible organic photovoltaics have emerged as a potential power source for wearable electronics owing to their stretchability and lightweight nature. However, waterproofing ultraflexible organic photovoltaics without compromising mechanical flexibility and conformability remains challenging. Here, we demonstrate waterproof and ultraflexible organic photovoltaics through the in-situ growth of a hole-transporting layer to strengthen interface adhesion between the active layer and anode. Specifically, a silver electrode is deposited directly on top of the active layers, followed by thermal annealing treatment. Compared with conventional sequentially-deposited hole-transporting layers, the in-situ grown hole-transporting layer exhibits higher thermodynamic adhesion between the active layers, resulting in better waterproofness. The fabricated 3 μm-thick organic photovoltaics retain 89% and 96% of their pristine performance after immersion in water for 4 h and 300 stretching/releasing cycles at 30% strain under water, respectively. Moreover, the ultraflexible devices withstand a machine-washing test with such a thin encapsulation layer, which has never been reported. Finally, we demonstrate the universality of the strategy for achieving waterproof solar cells.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44878-z

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