Ordered Organic Nanostructures Fabricated from Anodic Alumina Oxide Templates for Organic Bulk- Heterojunction Photovoltaics

Solution-processable organic photovoltaics (OPVs) attract much attention due to their potential as low-cost and lightweight sources of renewable energy. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of state-of-the-art OPVs based on bulk-heterojunction and tandem structures can reach over 10.0%, resulting from the progress in new materials, device engineering, device physics, etc. In particular, the fabrication and controllability of solution-processable organic active-layer thin films play an important role in the performance of OPV devices. The anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template method is a versatile and fascinating technique for fabricating ordered organic nanostructures with controlled properties. Here, a review is given on the solution-based fabrication of ordered organic semiconductor nanostructures by AAO templates, as well as its application in OPVs.