Project

Printed organic photovoltaics for energy harvesting in smart contact lenses

Code
3G065021
Duration
01 January 2021 → 31 December 2024
Funding
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Research disciplines
  • Engineering and technology
    • Molecular and organic electronics
    • Solar energy
    • Microfabrication and manufacturing
    • Materials processing
Keywords
solar energy
 
Project description

Smart contact lenses (SCL), composed of electronics integrated into traditional contact lenses, will greatly contribute to the next generation of wearable and biomedical devices. However, their small size and close contact with the body challenge their potential. Power autonomy is an issue owing to the lack of long-lasting batteries that are small and flexible enough to be imperceptible by the user. A solution to this issue is to integrate energy harvesters directly in the SCL to power its electronics or to assist existing miniaturized thin-film batteries with modest autonomy. In this project, we propose the development of thin-film inkjet-printed (IJP) organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells for powering SCL. OPV can be biocompatible, easy to process from solution and mechanically flexible. In contrast, their main drawbacks, i.e. low efficiency and poor time stability, are not limiting for the specific application in SCL, since current microchips consume just tens of μW, and the overall expected life of the system is few weeks. IJP allows non-contact deposition and patterning of every layer of the OPV on the specific areas available on the lens, making the fabrication process not only scalable, but also easily customizable to different smart lenses architectures. IJP also facilitates direct integration of the cells on the SCL, preventing costly subsequent extra assembly steps. The particular material morphology induced by IJP will be studied to optimize the cell performance.