• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.434-442
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• 2014

Serious environmental problems have been caused by the greenhouse effect due to carbon dioxide($CO_2$) or nitrogen oxides($NO_x$) generated by the use of fossil fuels, including oil and liquefied natural gas. Many countries, including our own, the United States, those of the European Union and other developed countries around the world; have shown growing interest in clean energy, and have been concentrating on the development of new energy-saving materials and devices. Typical non-fossil-fuel sources include solar cells, wind power, tidal power, nuclear power, and fuel cells. In particular, organic solar cells(OSCs) have relatively low power-conversion efficiency(PCE) in comparison with inorganic(silicon) based solar cells, compound semiconductor solar cells and the CIGS [$Cu(In_{1-x}Ga_x)Se_2$] thin film solar cells. Recently, organic cell efficiencies greater than 10 % have been obtained by means of the development of new organic semiconducting materials, which feature improvements in crystalline properties, as well as in the quantum-dot nano-structure of the active layers. In this paper, a brief overview of solar cells in general is presented. In particular, the current development status of the next-generation OSCs including their operation principle, device-manufacturing processes, and improvements in the PCE are described.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.48-53
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• 2016

We report the effect of physical load on the stability of organic solar cells under physical loads. The active layers in organic solar cells were fabricated with bulk heterojunction films (BHJ) films of poly (3-hexylthiophene) and phenyl-$C_{61}$-butyric methyl ester. The loading time was varied up to 60 s by keeping the physical load constant. Results showed that the open circuit voltage was not influenced by the physical load but other solar cell parameters were sensitive to the loading time. The fill factor was very slightly increased at 15 s, while short circuit current density was well kept for 30 s. The power conversion efficiency was reasonably maintained for 45 s but became significantly decreased by the continuous loading for 60 s.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.69.1-69.1
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• 2010

We have fabricated organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) with highly conductive poly 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene : poly styrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) layer as an anode without using transparent conducting oxide (TCO), which has been modified by adding some organic solvents like sorbitol (So), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), N-methyl-pyrrolidone (NMP), dimethylformamide (DMF), and ethylene glycol (EG). The conductivity of PEDOT:PSS film modified with each additive was enhanced by three orders of magnitude. According to atomic force microscopy (AFM) study, conductivity enhancement might be related to better connections between the conducting PEDOT chains. TCO-free solar cells with modified PEDOT:PSS layer and the active layer composed of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and phenyl [6,6] C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) exhibited a comparable device performance to indium tin oxide (ITO) based organic solar cells. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the organic solar cells incorporating DMSO, So + DMSO and EG modified PEDOT:PSS layer reached 3.51, 3.64 and 3.77%, respectively, under illumination of AM 1.5 (100mW/$cm^2$).

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.581-593
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• 2022

As energy depletion and environmental pollution problems are intensified, research has been conducted actively on alternative energy sources, an eco-friendly and continuous available energy conversion system. So has been organic solar cells whose efficiency is improved to 18.32%. The photoactive layer inside the solar cell is composed of a donor and a acceptor, and the combination of materials capable of effectively exchanging electrons greatly affects the efficiency of the organic solar cell. Accordingly, various researches have been conducted to improve the efficiency, and the maximum efficiency could be achieved by a solar cell with high carrier generation and low charge recombination characteristics through the introduction of a non-fullerene acceptor and material reconstruction. Organic solar cells are still difficult to commercialize due to their efficiency limitations and light stability, but if a photoactive layer consisting of a donor capable of efficiently absorbing long-wavelength light and an acceptor capable of forming an appropriate energy level is designed, the efficiency of the organic solar cell will reach 20%.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.15-31
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• 2023

Organic solar cells utilized natural polymers to convert solar energy to electricity. The demands for green energy production and less disposal of toxic materials make them one of the interesting candidates for replacing conventional solar cells. However, the different aspects of their properties including mechanical strength and stability are not well recognized. Therefore, in the present study, we aim to explore the chaotic responses of these organic solar cells. In doing so, a specific type of organic solar cell constructed from layers of material with different thicknesses is considered to obtain vibrational and chaotic responses under different boundaries and initial conditions. A square plate structure is examined with first-order shear deformation theory to acquire the displacement field in the laminated structure. The bounding between different layers is considered to be perfect with no sliding and separation. On the other hand, nonlocal elasticity theory is engaged in incorporating the structural effects of the organic material into calculations. Hamilton's principle is adopted to obtain governing equations with regard to boundary conditions and mechanical loadings. The extracted equations of motion were solved using the perturbation method and differential quadrature approach. The results demonstrated the significant effect of relative glass layer thickness on the chaotic behavior of the structure with higher relative thickness leading to less chaotic responses. Moreover, a comprehensive parameter study is presented to examine the effects of nonlocality and relative thicknesses on the natural frequency of square organic solar cell structure.

• 한국태양에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2012.03a
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• pp.397-399
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• 2012

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have received considerable attention as the most promising candidates for renewable energy systems in recent years. Among these, organic dyes which have many advantages such as large absorption coefficients, customized molecular design for desired photophysical and photochemical properties, inexpensiveness and environment-friendliness, are suitable as photosensitizers for DSSCs. We have studied on the design and synthesis of two organic dyes (BECZ 1 and BECZ 2) with a 9-ethyl-9H-carbazole core for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Two organic dyes comprised of two 9-ethyl-9H-carbazole moiety as electron-donor, two types of cyanoacrylic acid moiety acting as acceptor. In addition, n-ethyl unit introduced for increasing the solubility and the donating power. The obtained organic dyes were comprehensively characterized by NMR, GC-MS, FAB-MS and UV/Vis spectroscopies. DSSCs sensitized by the dyes BECZ1 and BECZ2 produced ${\eta}$ value 3.31% and a ${\eta}$ value 3.21%.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.55-60
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• 2019

Polymer:nonfullerene solar cells with an inverted-type device structure were fabricated by employing the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) active layers, which are composed of poly[(2,6-(4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophene-2-yl)-benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene))-alt-(5,5-(1',3'-di-2-thienyl-5',7-bis(2-ethylhexyl)benzo[1',2'-c:4',5'-c']dithiophene-4,8-dione))] (PBDB-T) and 3,9-bis(6-methyl-2-methylene-(3-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)-indanone))-5,5,11,11-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-dithieno[2,3-d:2',3-d']-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b']dithiophene (IT-M). The BHJ layers were formed on a pre-patterned indium-tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass substrate by spin-coating using the blend solutions of PBDB-T and IT-M. The solar cell performances were investigated with respect to the cell position on the ITO-glass substrates. In addition, the short-term shelf lifetime of solar cells was tested by storing the PBDB-T:IT-M solar cells in a glovebox filled with inert gas. The results showed that the performance of solar cells was relatively higher for the cells close to the center of substrates, which was maintained even after storage for 24 h. In particular, the PCE of PBDB-T:IT-M solar cells was marginally decreased after storage for 24 h owing to the slightly reduced fill factor, even though the open circuit voltage was unchanged after 24 h.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.107-113
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• 2020

Here we report the long-term stability of polymer:nonfullerene solar cells which were stored under dark and indoor light condition. The polymer:nonfullerene solar cells were fabricated using bulk heterojunction (BHJ) layers of poly[(2,6-(4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl) thiophen-2-yl)-benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene))-alt-(5,5-(1',3'-di-2-thienyl-5',7-bis(2-ethylhexyl)benzo[1',2'-c:4',5'-c']dithiophene-4,8-dione))] (PBDB-T) and 3,9-bis(6-methyl-2-methylene-(3-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)-indanone))-5,5,11,11-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-dithieno[2,3-d:2',3-d']-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b']dithiophene (IT-M). To investigate their long-term stability, the PBDB-T:IT-M solar cells were stored in an argon-filled glove box. One set of the fabricated solar cells was completely covered with an aluminum foil to prevent any effect of light, whereas another set was exposed to indoor light. The solar cells were subjected to a regular performance measurement for 40 weeks. Results revealed that the PBDB-T:IT-M solar cells underwent a gradual decay in performance irrespective of the storage condition. However, the PBDB-T:IT-M solar cells stored under indoor light condition exhibited relatively lower power conversion efficiency (PCE) than those stored under the dark. The inferior stability of the solar cells under indoor light was explained by the noticeably changed optical absorption spectra and dark spot generation, indicative of degradations in the BHJ layers.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.275-280
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• 2016

Intensity modulated photovoltage spectroscopy (IMVS) analysis of organic solar cells (OSCs) with a bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) film composed of P3HT and $PC_{61}BM$ was performed. The dynamic response of charge recombination by the post-annealing approach in $P3HT/PC_{61}BM$ BHJ solar cells characterized by IMVS demonstrated that post-annealing reduced the recombination of electron carriers in the device. The recombination times of $P3HT/PC_{61}BM$ BHJ solar cells post-annealed at room temperature, 80, 120, and $140^{\circ}C$ were 0.009, 0.020, 0.024, and 0.030 ms, respectively, at a short-circuit current of 0.18 mA. The results indicated that the IMVS analysis can be effectively used as powerful.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.141.2-141.2
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• 2007