Efficient Low-Cost All-Flexible Microcavity Semitransparent Polymer Solar Cells Enabled by Polymer Flexible One-Dimensional Photonic Crystals

High-efficiency low-cost all-flexible microcavity semitransparent polymer solar cells (STPSCs) are comparatively studied in both fullerene- and nonfullerene-based systems with the structure strategy, employing polymer flexible one-dimensional photonic crystals (F-1DPCs), as well as indium tin oxide-free UV/ozone plasma-treated polymer/ultrathin metal and PEDOT:PSS transparent electrodes. Based on the reasonable optimization of electrical and optical characteristics in the device, the maximum power conversion efficiency with the use of polymer F-1DPCs can be greatly improved by 24–27% compared to the respective control devices. The improvement in JSC is comprehensively discussed, which is mainly ascribed to the enhancement of effective photon absorption in the device. Although color tunability of fullerene and nonfullerene all-flexible STPSCs can be easily achieved with the use of different photonic band gaps of polymer F-1DPCs, the CIE coordinates of nonfullerene STPSCs differ a lot from the original light source compared to the fullerene ones because of a high absorption coefficient in a narrow wavelength region. This work presents an easy and effective microcavity device strategy incorporated with different elements and demonstrates a new sketch of structure–absorption–performance relationships for fullerene- versus nonfullerene-based all-flexible STPSCs, which is compatible with low-cost roll-to-roll manufacturing and surely has a diversity of potential applications to better meet specific needs.