Organic semiconductors, which are carbon-based and processed into inks for printing, face challenges in eco-friendly manufacturing and resource scarcity throughout their lifecycle. Organic semiconductors are carbon-based materials that can be processed from solutions by simply converting the materials into inks; conventional printing techniques can then be utilised to process them. One of the challenges of printable photovoltaics is the solvent used for the ink deposition and the materials in the entire device stack.Identifying eco-friendly manufacturing protocols will enable us to upscale this technology at a much faster pace, which is very much needed. It's important not only to remove the toxicity from the manufacturing process but also consider the entire life-cycle of the devices developed from raw materials to end of life. For instance, the industry relies heavily on scarce elements and materials from mining. Green electronics Discerning Blend Microstructure and Charge Recombination for Stable Biorenewable-Based Organic PhotovoltaicsAdvanced Energy Materials 16 (3), 2405635, 2026 This work establishes the relationship between active-layer microstructure, charge recombination and operational stability in biorenewable-processed organic solar cells. We demonstrate that FO6-T:Y12 exhibits superior stability under both indoor and outdoor illumination, originating from favourable nanoscale morphology and suppressed bimolecular recombination. The mechanistic insights provide design principles for developing durable, high-performance organic photovoltaics through sustainable processing. This work was featured in the editorial of the Advanced Energy Materials Special Issue on Advancing Organic Photovoltaics. Biorenewable Solvents for High-Performance Organic Solar CellsACS Energy Letters 8 (7), 3038-3047 We demonstrate that high-efficiency non-fullerene organic solar cells can be processed entirely from biorenewable solvents without the need for processing additives. By combining low synthetic complexity donor polymers with the Y-series acceptor Y12, power conversion efficiencies of up to 14.5% were achieved using 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MeTHF). This work establishes renewable solvent processing as a viable route towards scalable, environmentally sustainable manufacturing of organic photovoltaics while maintaining state-of-the-art device performance. This article was published on 2026-07-09
