title: Hybrid Silver Mesh Electrode for ITO-Free Flexible Polymer Solar Cells with Good Mechanical Stability.
abstract: Herein, we report a tailored Ag mesh electrode coated with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) polymer on a flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. The introduction of this highly conductive polymer solves the existing problems of Ag mesh-type transparent conductive electrodes, such as high pitch, roughness, current inhomogeneity, and adhesion problems between the Ag mesh grid and PEDOT polymer or PET substrate, to result in excellent electron spreading from the discrete Ag mesh onto the entire surface without sacrificing sheet conductivity and optical transparency. Based on this hybrid anode, we demonstrate highly efficient flexible polymer solar cells (PSCs) with a high fill factor of 67.11 %, which results in a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.9 % based on a poly({4,8-bis[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy]benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b'] dithiophene-2,6-diyl}{3-fluoro-2-[(2-ethylhexyl) carbonyl]thieno[3,4-b]thiophenediyl}):[6,6]-phenyl-C71 -butyric acid methyl ester bulk heterojunction device. Furthermore, the PSC device with the Ag mesh electrode also exhibits a good mechanical bending stability, as indicated by a 70 % retention of the initial PCE after 500 bending cycles compared with the PSC device with a PET/indium tin oxide electrode, which retained 0 % of the initial PCE after 300 bending cycles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, 120-749, Republic of Korea.|School of Chemical Engineering and SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Wanjung
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, 120-749, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Soyeon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Iljoong
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, 120-749, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Myung Sun
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sung June
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, 120-749, Republic of Korea.|Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Jung Kyu
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, 120-749, Republic of Korea. jayhkim@yonsei.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jung-Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, 120-749, Republic of Korea. lutts@yonsei.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jong Hyeok
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6629-3147
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D019086:Bridged Bicyclo Compounds, Heterocyclic / Q000737:chemistry*; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004566:Electrodes; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011137:Polystyrenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D012993:Solar Energy
chemical_list: D019086:Bridged Bicyclo Compounds, Heterocyclic; D011108:Polymers; D011137:Polystyrenes; C121383:poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene); D012834:Silver; C003321:polystyrene sulfonic acid
keywords: electrochemistry; electron transfer; energy conversion; polymers; silver