Large-area lightweight organic photovoltaics

Abstract

Lightweight conformable electronics enabled by organic materials and thin-film processing techniques present an avenue towards novel device applications. Imperceptible integration of such devices presents an opportunity towards reimagining how any surface around us can be made electronically active for purposes of sensing, computing, lighting, energy-harvesting, sound generation, etc. Critical to this would be availability of manufacturing techniques amenable for large-area coverage and material sets with sufficient mechanical resilience to withstand day-to-day human handling. Herein, we present vapor-deposited fabrication of large-area ultra-lightweight organic photovoltaics, reinforcement of such large-area devices with lamination to light weight composite fabrics, and present solution-coating approaches of organic photovoltaics as a step towards realizing all-printed lightweight electronics. Solution-coated devices are also evaluated for their use in low-light performance for indoor energy-harvesting applications.