Advanced Polymer Photovoltaics: Materials, Devices and Applications
A Special Issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360) belonging to the section "Polymer Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 223
Editors
Interests: advanced polymer chemistry; electrochromic materials; hydrogels; LED & IC encapsulants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: advanced polymer chemistry; conductive polymer; solar cells; nanocomposites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: advanced polymer chemistry; energy storage battery materials; smart hydrogel materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Advanced Polymer Photovoltaics (APPs) have emerged as a promising class of next-generation photovoltaic technologies due to their lightweight nature, mechanical flexibility, and compatibility with low-cost solution processing. These unique features enable a wide range of applications beyond conventional rigid photovoltaics, including wearable electronics, flexible devices, and building-integrated energy systems.
Over the past decade, APPs have experienced remarkable progress, particularly with the development of advanced donor–acceptor polymers and non-fullerene acceptors. These material innovations have driven power conversion efficiencies to levels exceeding 19%, placing APPs among the most competitive emerging photovoltaic technologies. In parallel, advances in morphology control, interface engineering, and charge transport optimization have significantly improved device performance and operational stability.
Despite these achievements, several challenges remain for the practical implementation of APPs, including long-term environmental stability, scalable manufacturing, and the development of sustainable materials and processes. Addressing these issues is essential for transitioning APP technologies from laboratory-scale research to real-world applications.
This Special Issue, titled “Advanced Polymer Photovoltaics: Materials, Devices and Applications”, aims to provide a platform for recent advances in material design, device engineering, and scalable fabrication strategies. Contributions covering novel polymer semiconductors, interfacial modification, device physics, and emerging applications are particularly encouraged.
We hope that this Special Issue will foster interdisciplinary collaboration and accelerate the development and commercialization of polymer solar cell technologies.
This Special Issue, which includes published review articles, research reports, and short communications on recent advances in APPs, will be received positively from the research community and will be considered a helpful tool for improving the overall scientific interest in polymer solar cells.
The keywords presented in this Special Issue are numerous and try to cover the majority of advances in and applications of APPs and other polymer combined materials. We encourage potential authors to illustrate APP research advances that are well beyond the topics covered by these specific keywords.
Dr. Chi-Ping Li
Prof. Dr. Fang-Chi Hsu
Prof. Dr. Shu-Ling Huang
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- polymer solar cells
- organic photovoltaics
- conjugated polymers
- non-fullerene acceptors
- flexible photovoltaics
- printed electronics
- interfacial engineering
- charge transport
- photovoltaic stability
- sustainable energy materials
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