Known for the ease with which they can be attached to a windows or a car, organic solar cells are made by printing photo kinesis macromolecule on glass or plastics. As the efficiency of organic solar cells is unsuitable for commercialization, a lot of research has focused on increasing efficiency. A POSTECH research team has developed technology that uses side branches.
Professor Cho Kilwon (CE), Lee Jaewon (CE Ph.D.) and Kim Min (CE Ph.D.) investigate side branch effects. Generally, photo kinesis macromolecule for organic solar cell has side branches. The research team has applied several structures to increase availability. Especially, by applying an aromatic molecular ring that reacts to light, they found the efficiency of the light-to-electricity conversion increases. This approach increases the solubility by three times the overall efficiency by 80% since absorption between ultraviolet and visible light increases.
The results are published in the authoritative journal Advanced Energy Materials.