•  National Institute of Materials Physics (NIMP) – Romania – Project Director: Dr. Marcela Socol
•   APEL LASER SRL– Romania – Partner Leader: Ionut Surupaceanu

Stage 1/2025

The objective of the first stage was to develop organic photovoltaic (OPV) cell structures based on donor-acceptor (D-A) active layers on rigid and flexible substrates. Thus, single, binary or ternary organic layers based on small molecule compounds (metal phthalocyanines – MPc (MgPc, CuPc, CoPc, FePc), AMC14, PC70BM, ITIC), oligomers (oligo(triphenylamine-acrylonitrile-ethynyl-benzothiadiazole) A1-D1 chemically synthesized) and polymers (P3HT, PCE10, PNF222, DPP-DTT, polymers with arylene-vinylene-ethynylene structure with alternating donor (triphenyl amine or carbazole) and acceptor (nitrile or benzothiadiazole) D-A units chemically synthesized) were deposited by spin-coating (SC) and matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) on rigid (glass, silicon and ITO/glass) and flexible (ITO/PET) substrates. Organic layers based on donor compounds (MPc, P3HT, PCE10), acceptor compounds (AMC14, PC70BM, ITIC, PNF222) and donor-acceptor compounds (DPP-DTT, chemically synthesized oligomers and polymers) were investigated from morphological (FESEM and AFM), vibrational (FTIR), optical (absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy) and electrical (J-V characteristics) point of view to highlight the influence of the experimental parameters used in the SC method (the ratio between components, solution concentration, annealing treatment) or in the MAPLE technique (the ratio between components, laser fluence, number of laser pulses) on their properties. Also, the influence of the deposition substrate, ITO/glass or ITO/PET, on the optical and electrical properties of the prepared organic layers was studied. The absorption spectra of the obtained organic films were recorded at different time intervals confirming their stability in terms of optical properties. The photovoltaic effect was evidenced in the structures fabricated with all types of single, binary and ternary active layers. The nature of the components and their ratio have a significant impact on the homogeneity of binary and ternary blends, which subsequently influences the electrical properties of the structures made with organic films. The miscibility problem that can occur in binary and ternary systems is eliminated in the case of structures made with active layers based on D-A oligomers and polymers. In the case of structures based on MPc (compounds with low solubility in common solvents), the MAPLE technique is a viable alternative for the deposition of mixed D-A films that can subsequently be integrated as active layers in photovoltaic cells.

1. M. Socol,  N. Preda, A. Costas, G. Petre, A. Stanculescu, I. Stavarache, G. Popescu-Pelin,  S. Iftimie, A. Stochioiu,· A. M. Catargiu, G. Socol, Influence of flexible substrate nature covered with ITO on the characteristics of organic heterostructures fabricated by laser deposition techniques, Applied Physics A 131,17, 2025.
2. Tudor Suteu, Vlad-Andrei Antohe, Gabriel Socol, Marcela Socol, Stefan Antohe, Oana Rasoga, Ionel Stavarache, Maria Cristina Balasin, and Sorina Iftimie, Induced Effects of Nano-Patterned Substrates on the Electrical and Photo-Electrical Properties of PTB7-Th:ICBA (1:1, wt.%) Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells, Surfaces 8, 30, 2025.
3. Carmen Breazu, Anca Stanculescu, Marcela Socol, Oana Rasoga, Nicoleta Preda, Andreea Costas,  George E. Stan, Dana Georgeta Popescu, Gabriela Petre, Sorina Iftimie, and Teddy Tite, DNA−RNA Nucleobase-Coated ZnO Nanostructures for Interface  Engineering in Organic Optoelectronics, ACS Applied Nano Materials 8, 33, 16307–16320, 2025.

1. M. Socol, N. Preda,  S. Iftimie, G. Petre, A. Stochioiu, G. Popescu-Pelin, A.M. Catargiu, A. Costas, A. Stanculescu, R. Udrea, G. Socol, Organic blend films based on metal phthalocyanines and perylene diimide derivative obtained by MAPLE on rigid and flexible substrates, NanoSeries2025, 16.06-20.06.2025, Valencia, Spain.

2.  M. Socol, N. Preda1, I. Stavarache, S. Iftimie, G. Petre, A. Stanculescu, G. Popescu-Pelin, A. Costas, A. M. Catargiu, A. Stochioiu, G. Socol, Pulsed laser deposition of ITO films on flexible substrates for organic optoelectronics, International Conference on Plasma Physics and Applications (CPPA), 03–05 September 2025, Bucharest, Romania.

3. Oana Rasoga, Lucia N. Leonat, Claudiu C. Constantin, Sana Handor, Essodossomondom Anate, Gabriela Petre, Carmen Breazu, Sorina Iftimie, Marcela Socol, Influence de la composition de la couche active sur les paramètres des cellules solaires organiques, 4e Symposium de la Recherche Scientifique Francophone en Europe Centrale et Orientale (SRSF-ECO), Universite “Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, 30-31 10. 2025, Iasi, Romania.

4. M. Socol, N. Preda, C. Breazu, O. Rasoga, I. Stavarache, G. Petre, A. Costas, A. Stanculescu, Deposition of oxide/metal/oxide transparent conductive electrodes with tailored properties on flexible substrates, 15th International Conference & Exhibition on Green Flexible Printed Electronics Industry (ICEFPE25), 17 - 19 November 2025, Athens, Greece.