High-conductivity large-area semi-transparent electrodes for polymer photovoltaics by silk screen printing and vapour-phase deposition

Transparent electrodes based on PEDOT were prepared using a variety of techniques suitable for large area applications from 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDT) and Fe(III)-tosylate. High conductivities were obtained (∼20 Ω−1) with moderate transmission in the UV-visible range 350–600 nm. We subsequently demonstrate the application of PEDOT electrodes to flexible polyethyleneterphthalate plastic substrates (PET) prepared by this procedure for polymer photovoltaic devices with active areas of 4.2 cm2 using a 1:4 w/w mixture of MEHPPV and PCBM. We obtain typical efficiencies of 0.2% under simulated sunlight (AM1.5 at 1000 W m−2).