High Performance Transparent Silver Grid Electrodes for Organic Photovoltaics Fabricated by Selective Metal Condensation

Silver grid electrodes on glass and flexible plastic substrates with performance that exceeds that of commercial indium-tin oxide (ITO) coated glass are reported and show their suitability as a drop-in replacement for ITO glass in solution-processed organic photovoltaics (OPVs). When supported on flexible plastic substrates these electrodes are stable toward repeated bending through a small radius of curvature over tens of thousands of cycles. The grid electrodes are fabricated by the unconventional approach of condensation coefficient modulation using a perfluorinated polymer shown to be far superior to the other compounds used for this purpose to date. The very narrow line width and small grid pitch that can be achieved also open the door to the possibility of using grid electrodes in OPVs without a conducting poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS) layer to span the gaps between grid lines.

Automated summary

Silver grid electrodes on glass and flexible plastic substrates are introduced as a drop-in replacement for ITO glass in organic photovoltaics (OPVs), surpassing the performance of commercial ITO coated glass. These electrodes demonstrate stability during repetitive bending on flexible plastic substrates and are fabricated using an unconventional approach of condensation coefficient modulation with a superior perfluorinated polymer. The narrow line width and small grid pitch achieved also allow the possibility of using grid electrodes in OPVs without a conducting PEDOT: PSS layer.