Synthesis and nanostructuration of a Pi-conjugated polymer for dye sensitized solar cells

Organic electronics has many advantages that make it useful for a wide range of fields from printed solar cells to rollable screens. π-conjugated polymers are very long organic molecules which are inexpensive, flexible and lightweight and thus have been of interest for use in the fabrication of organic electronic devices. The efficiency of these devices largely depends on the ability of the polymeric films to efficiently transport charge. The EU-funded PolySolar project plans to synthesise new soluble conjugated organic polymers using a simple solution polycondensation method. The resulting polymeric materials will be characterised by standard techniques. The polymer solutions will be pre-processed to precisely control crystallisation, aggregation and orientation, which largely determine the efficiency of charge transport.