EffIcient Fullerene-Free organic solar cELls

The accelerated urgency of transitioning away from fossil fuels is driven by climate change, but also by the European energy crisis in

the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It reinforces the demand for competitive solar energy conversion technologies. Organic

photovoltaics (OPV), based on non-toxic abundant raw materials offer an inexpensive technology with vast opportunities for largescale

roll-to-roll production that is scalable to the multi-terawatt level. After a decade of R&D, several European companies are

entering the market with OPV products. However, new materials, so-called non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs), have recently been

discovered and have yielded higher power conversion efficiencies. This development occurred mainly in China, so that Europe is at

risk of losing its leading industrial position to the Asia. To reverse this alarming trend, Europe needs to increase its strategic

investments into OPV research. Two key directions of particular importance are: tailored novel NFA materials and NFA-based solar

cells with long operational lifetime.

Our scientific goal within EIFFEL – EffIcient Fullerene-Free organic solar cELs – is to recruit, train and supervise 10 talented Early Stage

Researchers (ESRs) to design and synthesise novel NFAs suitable for both solution and vacuum processing, for the next generation of

efficient and stable OPV. In EIFFEL, the unprecedented combination of targeted simulations, organic synthesis, device

characterisation and engineering based on industrial needs paves the way to products that overcome OPV’s present-day limitations.

EIFFEL’s training programme is uniquely designed to provide the ESRs with multidisciplinary training interlinking chemistry, materials

science, physics, computer science, and transferable skills. EIFFEL’s ambition is to form a new generation of creative, entrepreneurial

and innovative young researchers with the organisational abilities needed to succeed in interdisciplinary high-tech sectors.