Intrinsically Stretchable Organic Solar Cells beyond 10% Power Conversion Efficiency Enabled by Transfer Printing Method

Stretchable organic solar cells (OSCs) simultaneously possessing high-efficiency and robust mechanical properties are ideal power generators for the emerging wearable and portable electronics. Herein, after incorporating a low amount of trimethylsiloxy terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) additive, the intrinsic stretchability of PTB7-Th:IEICO-4F bulk heterojunction (BHJ) film is greatly improved from 5% to 20% strain without sacrificing the photovoltaic performance. The intimate multi-layers stacking of OSCs is also realized with the transfer printing method assisted by electrical adhesive “glue” D-Sorbitol. The resultant devices with 84% electrode transmittance exhibit a remarkable power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.1%, which is among the highest efficiency for intrinsically stretchable OSCs to date. The stretchable OSCs also demonstrate the ultra-flexibility, stretchability, and mechanical robustness, which keep the PCE almost unchanged at small bending radium of 2 mm for 300 times bending cycles and retain 86.7% PCE under tensile strain as large as 20% for the devices with 70% electrode transmittance. The results provide a universal method to fabricate highly efficient intrinsically stretchable OSCs.