Liquid Crystals for Organic Photovoltaics

Abstract

As discussed in Chaps. 2, 3, 5 and 6, columnar, smectic and, more recently, nematic liquid crystals are widely recognized as very promising charge-transporting organic semiconductors due to their ability to spontaneously self-assemble into highly ordered domains in uniform thin films over large areas. This and their broad absorption spectra make them suitable as active materials for organic photovoltaic devices. In this chapter, we discuss the use of liquid crystals in such devices. Firstly, we examine the principle of power generation via the photovoltaic effect in organic materials and the various device configurations that can optimise efficiency. Then we discuss photovoltaic devices incorporating columnar liquid crystals combined with electron accepting materials based on either perylene or fullerene. The use of nematic and sanditic liquid crystals in photovoltaics is investigated as well as a novel solar cell concentrator incorporating liquid crystals. Finally, we analyse the benefits and limitations of liquid-crystal-based photovoltaics in the context of the state-of-the-art for organics photovoltaics.