Efficient recyclable organic solar cells on cellulose nanocrystal substrates with a conducting polymer top electrode deposited by film-transfer lamination

We report on efficient solar cells on recyclable cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) substrates with a new device structure wherein polyethylenimine-modified Ag is used as the bottom electron-collecting electrode and high-conductivity poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS, PH1000) is used as the semitransparent top hole-collecting electrode. The PEDOT:PSS top electrode is deposited by a film-transfer lamination technique. This dry process avoids swelling damage to the CNC substrate, which is observed when PEDOT:PSS is directly spin-coated from an aqueous solution. Solar cells on recyclable CNC substrates exhibit a maximum power conversion efficiency of 4.0% with a large fill factor of 0.64 +/- 0.02 when illuminated through the top semitransparent PEDOT:PSS electrode. The performance of solar cells on CNC substrates is comparable to that of reference solar cells on polyethersulfone substrates. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.