Ossila begins supplying semiconducting plastic

UK start-up Ossila has now begun supplying the polymer PCDTBT to academic and industrial researchers.

While organic photovoltaics have been muted for several years, there are scant few materials available commercially, off the shelf — most being based on a material called P3HT.

‘The reason we’re so excited about this [PCDTBT] is because it combines better efficiency, it’s a much more stable polymer and it’s also more manufacturable,’ said managing director Dr James Kingsley.

These three factors are key to making organic photovoltaic electricity a commercial reality for a range of applications, he added.

In lab tests, PCDTBT has demonstrated an almost 50 per cent improved efficiency in terms of energy conversion over P3HT. In addition, while P3HT takes several minutes to dry during manufacture, PCDTBT can be processed far quicker. Unlike P3HT, the newer polymer is also stable in air.

‘If you’ve got something that’s up on the roof for 10 years with sheeting rain, you want something that’s stable,’ said Kingsley. ’Also, you don’t want to put your entire factory in a nitrogen-free or oxygen-free environment; this material can be processed without a glove box.’