Project description
A step towards more efficient organic electronic devices
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.
Objective
π-Conjugated semiconducting organic polymers have gained a widespread interest for their potential application in the
fabrication of organic electronic devices. Efficiency of these devices largely depends on the ability of the polymeric film to
transport charge; thus attempts are being made to enhance the charge mobility by improving crystallization, aggregation and
orientation of the material during the pre-processing. Dip coating, spin coating, doctor blading and thermal annealing
techniques are being used for the development of oriented microstructures, however, these techniques are not practicable
on a large scale. However, microfluidics is an emerging multidisciplinary field with practical applications in lab-on-a-chip
technology. It deals with the precise control, behaviour and manipulation of fluids. It has widely been used for the controlled
nucleation and crystallization of small conjugated materials.
The aim of this project is to synthesize new soluble conjugated organic polymers by simple solution polycondensation
method. The monomers and the resulting polymeric material will be characterized by using the standard techniques. New
microchannel system will be designed and fabricated by using polymer, glass or thermoplastics. The polymer solutions will
be pre-processed (under optimized conditions like temperature, flow rate or magnetic field) by micro-fluid technique for
precise manipulation of crystallization, aggregation and orientation in the solution form. Effect of the variable flow rate,
solvent systems and temperatures will be studied. The processed solution will be then spin coated to fabricate prototype dye
sensitized solar cell. Atomic force Microscopy, Grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering, UV visible spectroscopy will
used to investigate the aggregation and formation of clusters. Electrical measurements, namely current-voltage (I-V) will be
carried out to study the transport properties and cell parameters of the device.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesclassical mechanicsfluid mechanicsmicrofluidics
- engineering and technologyother engineering and technologiesmicrotechnologylab on a chip
- natural scienceschemical sciencespolymer sciences
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsmicroscopy
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcoating and films
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
75784 Paris
France
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.