Organic Solar Cell by Inkjet Printing—An Overview

• Main Authors: Sharaf Sumaiya, Kamran Kardel, Adel El-Shahat
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2017-08-01
• Series: Technologies
• Subjects: organic solar cell (OSC); inkjet printing; drop-on-demand; continuous inkjet
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/5/3/53

In recent years, organic solar cells became more attractive due to their flexible power devices and the potential for low-cost manufacturing. Inkjet printing is a very potential manufacturing technique of organic solar cells because of its low material usage, flexibility, and large area formation. In this paper, we presented an overall review on the inkjet printing technology as well as advantages of inkjet-printing, comparison of inkjet printing with other printing technologies and its potential for organic solar cells (OSCs). Here we highlighted in more details about the viability of environment-friendly and cost-effective, non-halogenated indium tin oxide (ITO) free large scale roll to roll production of the OSC by inkjet printing technology. The challenges of inkjet printing like the viscosity limitations, nozzle clogging, coffee ring effect, and limitation of printability as well as dot spacing are also discussed. Lastly, some of the improvement strategies for getting the higher efficiency of the OSCs have been suggested.