Transfer-Printed PEDOT:PSS Electrodes Using Mild Acids for High Conductivity and Improved Stability with Application to Flexible Organic Solar Cells

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2016 Jun 8;8(22):14029-36. doi: 10.1021/acsami.6b01389. Epub 2016 May 27.

Abstract

Highly conductive, flexible, and transparent electrodes (FTEs) of

Pedot: PSS films on plastic substrates have been achieved using strong acid treatments. However, it is rare to realize a performance attenuation of

Pedot: PSS FTEs on plastic substrates and flexible optoelectronic devices because of strong acid residues in the

Pedot: PSS matrix. Herein, we develop a feasible transfer-printing technique using mild acids. Because of a mild and weak property of these acids and less acid residues in

Pedot: PSS matrix, the transferred

Pedot: PSS FTEs exhibited a significant enhancement in stability, conductivity (3500 S cm(-1)), transparency, and mechanical flexibility on plastic substrates. Flexible organic solar cells with the FTEs also showed a remarkable enhancement in power conversion efficiency and stability in the ambient atmosphere. It is expected that the novel transfer-printing technique for making

Pedot: PSS FTEs is also useful in many other types of flexible optoelectronic devices.

Keywords: PEDOT:PSS; acid residue; flexible electrode; organic solar cell; stability; transfer-printing.