Efficient organic solar cells with solution-processed carbon nanosheets as transparent electrodes

We demonstrate that solution-processed carbon nanosheet (CNS) films can efficiently serve as transparent electrodes for organic solar cells (OSCs). The CNS was obtained by spin-coating of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) dissolved in dimethylformamide on quartz substrates, followed by stabilization and carbonization processes to convert polymer into CNS. The thickness of the newly developed CNS films was easily controlled by varying the PAN solution concentration. The polymer-converted CNS films were intensively examined for the feasibility of the use as transparent anodes in solar cells. This approach could be highly desirable for all-solution-processed or printed OSCs. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4789980]