Opvius and Cambrios Advanced Materials have announced the successful joint development of semi-transparent organic photovoltaic (OPV) modules featuring a silver nanowire (AgNW) bottom electrode.
Although the effectiveness of OPV modules on Cambrios' nanowire-coated substrate has been demonstrated before, this is the first time that this combination of technologies has been applied to free-form modules.
To realise this joint project, Opvius deployed their unique, proprietary production process combining coating, printing, laser structuring and lamination techniques on a full-sized roll of plastic substrate.
The ClearOhm AgNW conductive electrode layer was produced via slot-die coating at the production line of TPK Touch Solutions in Xiamen, China. The product showed a sheet resistance of less than 10 ohm/square while the transparency remained above 85% in the visible range.
State-of-the-art multilayer bottom electrodes on plastic substrates are manufactured using large machinery to apply sputtering processes that require a high-vacuum environment. Obligatory long pumping times combined with substrate films which only allow a certain temperature budget result in higher cost of manufacturing.
In contrast the deposition of Cambrios' nanowire material is accomplished using standard coating equipment.
"The coating of our nanowire formulation combined with a solution-based roll-to-roll process on various kinds of plastic materials allows us to provide a conductive substrate at a price well below that of classical materials, for a diverse range of applications."
"That being said, our nanowire substrate foil features a high transmissivity as well as a low sheet resistance resulting in a perfect fit for OPV market needs. During our cooperation with OPVIUS we were now able to demonstrate that our material is even conformal with the latest state-of-the-art of OPV free-form process as developed by Opvius"
Pearl Ting, Director Business Development at Cambrios Advanced Materials
"Two main trends in touch applications are lower sheet resistance as well as flexibility and conformability while maintaining excellent optical performance. Improving these features helps us to broaden our business opportunity into other applications, such as organic photovoltaics."
"We are happy to see the success of Opvius' leading technology in combination with Cambrios' silver nanowires, as this was achieved without sacrificing any portion of electrical performance. With TPK's long-time coating expertise we believe we can bring significant benefits to the customers."
Dr. CC Hsiao, Vice President of TPK
"One of our objectives is the identification and development of high-performing, but more economic materials to decrease cost."
"In this context, open innovation approaches, like the joint-development effort together with Cambrios and TPK, are part of our R&D strategy. TPK's solution of a flexible, conductive substrate using Cambrios’ silver nanowires offers state-of-the-art electrical and optical properties as well as cost benefits. Consequently, the nanowire foils are very attractive for the use as bottom electrode in OPVs, especially as we expect the price to drop further down in the future."
Dr. Sebastian Meier, Director R&D at Opvius GmbH