Dear Colleagues,
The search for clean energy sources has been a fundamental key in materials research. Particularly, the photovoltaic (PV) field attracts significant scientific and technological resources towards concepts like low costs, efficiency, lifespan, niche applications as well as suitable and reliable power generation. In the pathway, the known third-generation PVs still being evaluated as an advanced emerging technology. Under focus, organic photovoltaics (OPVs), perovskite solar cells and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), appears as the most promising for applications. In the last years, due to new materials and fabrication process, these new PVs technologies became more than a simple laboratory curiosity, achieving compatible marks for industrial deployment.
So far, the high versatility of fabrication process, including printing, solution deposition even in large-scale methods, low-cost and simplicity, induces a high technological attractiveness. Additionally, these kind of emerging PVs can be of interest in specific and complementary niche applications.
In the complex photovoltaic process, from the light absorption until charge collection at electrodes, the final figures of merit are strongly dependent on the materials properties, device structure and on the molecular conformation. Each framework, with proper physical models related with the energy stepwise conversion, needs to be fully understand to allow reliable improvements. Factors like absorption coefficients, diffusion lengths, carrier mobilities and interface / phase properties, materials and film formation, modulates all the macroscopic PV behavior and being currently the relevant framework. We expect that may contributes significantly to accelerating the R&D in this area. The progress of such interrelationship roadmap, will determine how fast will be the reality of the awaited outstanding applications.
This Special Issue aims to focus the novel achievements on research and development of organic / hybrid photovoltaics devices, including, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Donor / Acceptor materials and D/A interface optimization;
• Thermal and photo-stability;
• Photovoltaic active layer morphology and molecular ordering;
• Novel third-generation PVs structures;
• Physical and electrical modulation for new devices and materials approach;
• Figures of merit side based on electrical carrier transport and trapping effects;
• Encapsulation technologies;
• Eco-friendly materials and process;
• Materials for non-conventional substrates, towards lightweight, flexible, thin and outstanding technological applications;
• Materials and process for industrialization, scaling-up and recycling of organic / hybrid photovoltaics;
• Pushing strategies for mid-term organic and hybrid photovoltaics.
Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Luiz Fernando Ribeiro Pereira