Extrusion as plausible processing method for production of organic photovoltaic solar cells

We present two polymers specifically designed for the preparation of extrudable solar cells. Extrusion is a clean, solventless process that might allow an inexpensive and large scale production of OPV cells. This plausible alternative to the usual techniques (printing, roll-to-roll...) could be considered to elaborate active layers based on two materials: donor (D) and acceptor (A). In order to achieve this, D and A polymers should possess similar viscosity. In addition the final materials need to retain controlled domains size, close to the exciton diffusion length, and continuous D and A paths. Commercial poly(3-octylthiophene) and synthesized fullerene-grafted polystyrene were chosen as D and A polymers, respectively. Their extrusion compatibility for PV application is verified for rheological and functional properties.