Environmental stability of PTB7: PCBM bulk heterojunction solar cell

The short life span of organic photovoltaic (OPV) cell in an ambient laboratory condition is one of the challenges hindering the realization of organic-based devices. The presence of moisture and oxygen in conjugated polymer matrix is the major factors responsible for the degradation of organic molecules. The chemical degradation of OPV cell generally depends on the nature of the semiconductor polymer used in the preparation of the devices. However, the lifespan of unprotected OPV cells often ranges in the order of few hours in simple laboratory environment. We are reporting here the lifetime of organic photovoltaic cell in ambient laboratory condition whose active layer is composed of PTB7:PCBM blend.