Adam D Printz

Interests

Research

Renewable energy | Solution-processed electronics | Intermolecular interactions | Scalable printing of electronics | Perovskite solar cells | Organic electronics | Flexible and stretchable electronics | Polymeric materials | Data science for material design and selection

Teaching

Polymer science | Surface and Intermolecular Forces | Transport Phenomena

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Chapters

• Alkhadra, M. A., Kleinschmidt, A. T., Root, S. E., Rodriquez, D., Printz, A. D., Savagatrup, S., & Lipomi, D. J. (2019). Mechanical Properties of Semiconducting Polymers. In Handbook of Semiconducting Polymers, Fourth Edition; Conjugated Polymers: Properties, Processing, and Apllications. CRC Press.

Journals/Publications

• Mohapatra, A. A., Yual, W. K., Zhang, Y., Samoylov, A. A., Thurston, J., Davis, C. M., McCarthy, D. P., Printz, A. D., Toney, M. F., Ratcliff, E. L., Armstrong, N. R., Greenaway, A. L., Barlow, S., & Marder, S. R. (2024). Reducing delamination of an electron-transporting polymer from a metal oxide for electrochemical applications. Chemical Communications, 60(8), 988-991. doi:10.1039/d3cc05391a
• Samoylov, A. A., Dailey, M., Li, Y., Lohr, P. J., Raglow, S., & Printz, A. D. (2024). Inelastic Deformation in Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite and Mitigation by Additives during Thermal Cycling. ACS Energy Letters, 2101-2108. doi:10.1021/acsenergylett.4c00587
• Printz, A. D. (2023).

  Influence of Halides on the Interactions of Ammonium Acids with Metal Halide Perovskites

  . ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 15(20), 24387-24398. doi:10.1021/acsami.3c01432
• Printz, A. D., Chen, A. X., Hilgar, J. D., Samoylov, A. A., Pazhankave, S. S., Bunch, J. A., Choudhary, K., Esparza, G. L., Lim, A., Luo, X., Chen, H., Runser, R., McCulloch, I., Mei, J., Hoover, C., Romero, N. A., & Lipomi, D. J. (2022). Increasing the Strength, Hardness, and Survivability of Semiconducting Polymers by Crosslinking. Advanced Materials Interfaces, 2202053. doi:10.1002/admi.202202053
• Dailey, M., Li, Y., & Printz, A. D. (2021). Residual Film Stresses in Perovskite Solar Cells: Origins, Effects, and Mitigation Strategies. ACS Omega. doi:10.1021/acsomega.1c04814
• Li, Y., Dailey, M., Lohr, P. J., & Printz, A. D. (2021). Performance and stability improvements in metal halide perovskite with intralayer incorporation of organic additives. Journal of Materials Chemistry A. doi:10.1039/D1TA05252G
• Prete, M., Ogliani, E., Bregnhøj, M., Lissau, J. S., Dastidar, S., Rubahn, H., Engmann, S., Skov, A. L., Brook, M. A., Ogilby, P. R., Printz, A., Turkovic, V., & Madsen, M. (2021). Synergistic effect of carotenoid and silicone-based additives for photooxidatively stable organic solar cells with enhanced elasticity. Journal of Materials Chemistry C. doi:10.1039/D1TC01544C
• Printz, A. D., Li, Y., & Dailey, M. (2021). Residual Film Stresses in Perovskite Solar Cells: Origins, Effects, and Mitigation Strategies. ACS Omega, 6(45), 30214-30223. doi:10.1021/acsomega.1c04814
• Printz, A. D., Li, Y., Dailey, M., & Lohr, P. J. (2021). Performance and stability improvements in metal halide perovskite with intralayer incorporation of organic additives. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 9(30), 16281-16338. doi:10.1039/d1ta05252g
• Printz, A., Prete, M., Ogliani, E., Bregnhøj, M., Lissau, J. S., Dastidar, S., Rubahn, H., Engmann, S., Skov, A. L., Brook, M. A., Ogilby, P. R., Turkovic, V., & Madsen, M. (2021). Synergistic effect of carotenoid and silicone-based additives for photooxidatively stable organic solar cells with enhanced elasticity. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 9(35), 11838-11850. doi:10.1039/d1tc01544c
• Gutwald, M., Rolston, N., Printz, A. D., Zhao, O., Elmaraghi, H., Ding, Y., Zhang, J., & Dauskardt, R. H. (2020). Perspectives on Intrinsic Toughening Strategies and Passivation of Perovskite Films with Organic Additives. SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2020.110433
• Printz, A. D., Zhao, O., Hamann, S., Rolston, N., Solgaard, O., & Dauskardt, R. H. (2020). Self-aligned concentrating immersion-lens arrays for patterning and efficiency recovery in scaffold-reinforced perovskite solar cells. APPLIED MATERIALS TODAY, 20, 100704. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmt.2020.100704
• Prolongo, S. G., Printz, A. D., Rolston, N., Watson, B. L., & Dauskardt, R. H. (2018). Poly(triarylamine) composites with carbon nanomaterials for highly transparent and conductive coatings. THIN SOLID FILMS, 646, 61-66.
• Rolston, N., Bush, K. A., Printz, A. D., Gold-Parker, A., Ding, Y., Toney, M. F., McGehee, M. D., & Dauskardt, R. H. (2018). Engineering Stress in Perovskite Solar Cells to Improve Stability. ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS, 8(29).
• Rolston, N., Printz, A. D., Tracy, J. M., Weerasinghe, H. C., Vak, D., Haur, L. J., Priyadarshi, A., Mathews, N., Slotcavage, D. J., McGehee, M. D., Kalan, R. E., Zielinski, K., Grimm, R. L., Tsai, H., Nie, W., Mohite, A. D., Gholipour, S., Saliba, M., Gratzel, M., & Dauskardt, R. H. (2018). Effect of Cation Composition on the Mechanical Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells. ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS, 8(9).
• Rolston, N., Printz, A. D., Dupont, S. R., Voroshazi, E., & Dauskardt, R. H. (2017). Effect of heat, UV radiation, and moisture on the decohesion kinetics of inverted organic solar cells. SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS, 170, 239-245.
• Rolston, N., Printz, A. D., Hilt, F., Hovish, M. Q., Bruning, K., Tassone, C. J., & Dauskardt, R. H. (2017). Improved stability and efficiency of perovskite solar cells with submicron flexible barrier films deposited in air. JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A, 5(44), 22975-22983.
• Root, S. E., Alkhadra, M. A., Rodriquez, D., Printz, A. D., & Lipomi, D. J. (2017). Measuring the Glass Transition Temperature of Conjugated Polymer Films with Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy. CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS, 29(7), 2646-2654.
• Root, S. E., Savagatrup, S., Printz, A. D., Rodriquez, D., & Lipomi, D. J. (2017). Mechanical Properties of Organic Semiconductors for Stretchable, Highly Flexible, and Mechanically Robust Electronics. CHEMICAL REVIEWS, 117(9), 6467-6499.
• Savagatrup, S., Printz, A. D., O'Connor, T. F., Kim, I., & Lipomi, D. J. (2017). Efficient Characterization of Bulk Heterojunction Films by Mapping Gradients by Reversible Contact with Liquid Metal Top Electrodes. CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS, 29(1), 389-398.
• Watson, B. L., Rolston, N., Printz, A. D., & Dauskardt, R. H. (2017). Scaffold-reinforced perovskite compound solar cells. ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, 10(12), 2500-2508.
• O'Connor, T. F., Zaretski, A. V., Savagatrup, S., Printz, A. D., Wilkes, C. D., Diaz, M. I., Sawyer, E. J., & Lipomi, D. J. (2016). Wearable organic solar cells with high cyclic bending stability: Materials selection criteria. SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS, 144, 438-444.
• Printz, A. D., & Lipomi, D. J. (2016). Competition between deformability and charge transport in semiconducting polymers for flexible and stretchable electronics. APPLIED PHYSICS REVIEWS, 3(2).
• Printz, A. D., Chiang, A., Savagatrup, S., & Lipomi, D. J. (2016). Fatigue in organic semiconductors: Spectroscopic evolution of microstructure due to cyclic loading in poly(3-heptylthiophene). SYNTHETIC METALS, 217, 144-151.
• Sawyer, E. J., Zaretski, A. V., Printz, A. D., de, l., Bautista-Gutierrez, A., & Lipomi, D. J. (2016). Large increase in stretchability of organic electronic materials by encapsulation. EXTREME MECHANICS LETTERS, 8, 78-87.
• Zaretski, A. V., Root, S. E., Savchenko, A., Molokanova, E., Printz, A. D., Jibril, L., Arya, G., Mercola, M., & Lipomi, D. J. (2016). Metallic Nanoislands on Graphene as Highly Sensitive Transducers of Mechanical, Biological, and Optical Signals. NANO LETTERS, 16(2), 1375-1380.
• Landon, P. B., Mo, A. H., Printz, A. D., Emerson, C., Zhang, C., Janetanakit, W., Colburn, D. A., Akkiraju, S., Dossou, S., Chong, B., Glinsicy, G., & Lal, R. (2015). Asymmetric Colloidal Janus Particle Formation Is Core-Size-Dependent. LANGMUIR, 31(33), 9148-9154.
• O'Connor, T. F., Rajan, K. M., Printz, A. D., & Lipomi, D. J. (2015). Toward organic electronics with properties inspired by biological tissue. JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY B, 3(25), 4947-4952.
• Printz, A. D. (2015).

  Understanding and improving the mechanical stability of semiconducting polymers for flexible and stretchable electronics

  . PhD Dissertation.
  More info

  Polymeric semiconductors offer the promise of low-cost, printable, and mechanically robust electronic devices for use in outdoor, portable, and wearable applications such as organic photovoltaics, biosensors, and electronic skins. However, many organic semiconductors are unable to accommodate the mechanical stresses these applications require, and it is therefore important to understand the factors and parameters that govern the mechanical stability of these materials. Chapter 1 provides a gentle introduction to the electronic and mechanical properties relevant to flexible and stretchable organic semiconductor devices. The idea of inherent competition between electronic performance and mechanical robustness is explored. Chapter 2 investigates the inherent competition between good electronic performance and mechanical robustness in poly(3-alkylthiophene)s. A key finding is a critical alkyl side-chain length that allows for good electronic performance and mechanical compliance. Chapter 3 and Appendix A are further studies on the properties of poly(3-alkylthiophene)s with side-chains close to the critical length to gain better understanding of the transition from good electronic properties and poor mechanical properties to poor electronic properties and good mechanical properties. Chapter 4 and Appendix B detail the effects on mechanical and electronic properties of statistical incorporation of unlike monomer into a low-bandgap polymer backbone in an effort to disrupt aggregation and improve mechanical compliance. Chapter 5 explores how the extent of molecular mixing of polythiophenes and fullerenes—materials common in organic photovoltaics—affects their mechanical properties. Chapter 6 describes the invention of a new technique to determine the yield point of thin films. A dependence on the alkyl-side chain length is observed, as well as a critical film thickness below which the yield point increases substantially. In Chapter 7, the weakly interacting H-aggregate model—a spectroscopic model which estimates the quantity and quality of aggregates in a polymer film—is used to determine how the microstructure of a semiconducting polymer thin film evolves with repetitive strain. Samples strained below the yield point undergo little microstructural evolution, while samples strained above the yield point exhibit a significant decrease in aggregation and tensile modulus. Appendix C describes the invention of an environmentally-friendly fabrication technique, abrasion lithography.
• Printz, A. D., Savagatrup, S., Rodriquez, D., & Lipomi, D. J. (2015). Role of molecular mixing on the stiffness of polymer:fullerene bulk heterojunction films. SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS, 134, 64-72.
• Printz, A. D., Zaretski, A. V., Savagatrup, S., Chiang, A., & Lipomi, D. J. (2015). Yield Point of Semiconducting Polymer Films on Stretchable Substrates Determined by Onset of Buckling. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES, 7(41), 23257-23264.
• Savagatrup, S., Chan, E., Renteria-Garcia, S. M., Printz, A. D., Zaretski, A. V., O'Connor, T. F., Rodriquez, D., Valle, E., & Lipomi, D. J. (2015). Plasticization of PEDOT:PSS by Common Additives for Mechanically Robust Organic Solar Cells and Wearable Sensors. ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, 25(3), 427-436.
• Savagatrup, S., Printz, A. D., Acosta, R. I., Lipomi, D. J., O'connor, T. F., Rajan, K. M., Rodriquez, D., Root, S. E., Sawyer, E. J., & Zaretski, A. V. (2015).

  Mechanical degradation and stability of organic solar cells: molecular and microstructural determinants

  . Energy and Environmental Science, 8(1), 55-80. doi:10.1039/c4ee02657h
  More info

  The mechanical properties of organic semiconductors and the mechanical failure mechanisms of devices play critical roles in the yield of modules in roll-to-roll manufacturing and the operational stability of organic solar cells (OSCs) in portable and outdoor applications. This paper begins by reviewing the mechanical properties—principally stiffness and brittleness—of pure films of organic semiconductors. It identifies several determinants of the mechanical properties, including molecular structures, polymorphism, and microstructure and texture. Next, a discussion of the mechanical properties of polymer–fullerene bulk heterojunction blends reveals the strong influence of the size and purity of the fullerenes, the effect of processing additives as plasticizers, and the details of molecular mixing—i.e., the extent of intercalation of fullerene molecules between the side chains of the polymer. Mechanical strain in principle affects the photovoltaic output of devices in several ways, from strain-evolved changes in alignment of chains, degree of crystallinity, and orientation of texture, to debonding, cohesive failure, and cracking, which dominate changes in the high-strain regime. These conclusions highlight the importance of mechanical properties and mechanical effects on the viability of OSCs during manufacture and in operational environments. The review—whose focus is on molecular and microstructural determinants of mechanical properties—concludes by suggesting several potential routes to maximize both mechanical resilience and photovoltaic performance for improving the lifetime of devices in the near term and enabling devices that require extreme deformation (i.e., stretchability and ultra-flexibility) in the future.
• Savagatrup, S., Printz, A. D., O'Connor, T. F., Zaretski, A. V., Rodriquez, D., Sawyer, E. J., Rajan, K. M., Acosta, R. I., Root, S. E., & Lipomi, D. J. (2014). Mechanical degradation and stability of organic solar cells: molecular and microstructural determinants. ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, 55-80.
• Savagatrup, S., Printz, A. D., Wu, H., Rajan, K. M., Sawyer, E. J., Zaretski, A. V., Bettinger, C. J., & Lipomi, D. J. (2015). Viability of stretchable poly(3-heptylthiophene) (P3HpT) for organic solar cells and field-effect transistors. SYNTHETIC METALS, 203, 208-214.
• Savagatrup, S., Rodriquez, D., Printz, A. D., Sieval, A. B., Hummelen, J. C., & Lipomi, D. J. (2015). [70]PCBM and Incompletely Separated Grades of Methanofullerenes Produce Bulk Heterojunctions with Increased Robustness for Ultra-Flexible and Stretchable Electronics. CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS, 27(11), 3902-3911.
• Zaretski, A. V., Moetazedi, H., Kong, C., Sawyer, E. J., Savagatrup, S., Valle, E., O'Connor, T. F., Printz, A. D., & Lipomi, D. J. (2015). Metal-assisted exfoliation (MAE): green, roll-to-roll compatible method for transferring graphene to flexible substrates. NANOTECHNOLOGY, 26(4).
• Landon, P. B., Mo, A. H., Zhang, C., Emerson, C. D., Printz, A. D., Gomez, A. F., DeLaTorre, C. J., Colburn, D., Anzenberg, P., Eliceiri, M., O'Connell, C., & Lal, R. (2014). Designing Hollow Nano Gold Golf Balls. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES, 6(13), 9937-9941.
• O'Connor, T. F., Zaretski, A. V., Shiravi, B. A., Savagatrup, S., Printz, A. D., Diaz, M. I., & Lipomi, D. J. (2014). Stretching and conformal bonding of organic solar cells to hemispherical surfaces. ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, 7(1), 370-378.
• Printz, A. D., Savagatrup, S., Burke, D. J., Purdy, T. N., & Lipomi, D. J. (2014). Increased elasticity of a low-bandgap conjugated copolymer by random segmentation for mechanically robust solar cells. RSC ADVANCES, 4(26), 13635-13643.
• Savagatrup, S., Printz, A. D., O'Connor, T. F., Zaretski, A., & Lipomi, D. J. (2014). Molecularly stretchable electronics. CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS, 3028-3041.
• Savagatrup, S., Printz, A. D., Rodriquez, D., & Lipomi, D. J. (2014). Best of Both Worlds: Conjugated Polymers Exhibiting Good Photovoltaic Behavior and High Tensile Elasticity. MACROMOLECULES.
• Printz, A. D., Chan, E., Liong, C., Martinez, R. S., & Lipomi, D. J. (2013). Photoresist-Free Patterning by Mechanical Abrasion of Water-Soluble Lift-Off Resists and Bare Substrates: Toward Green Fabrication of Transparent Electrodes. PLOS ONE.

Proceedings Publications

• Li, Y., Printz, A., Dailey, M., Lohr, P., & Samoylov, A. (2022). Scalable Approaches to Address Thermomechanical and Chemical Instabilities in Metal Halide Perovskites. In Gordon Research Conference.
• Printz, A., Atajanov, R., Engmann, V., Bregnhøj, M., Inasaridze, L., Ogliani, E., Volyniuk, D., Dastidar, S., Obrezkov, F., Grazulevicius, J. V., Prete, M., Engmann, S., Rubahn, H., Ladegaard Skov, A., Brook, M. A., Troshin, P., Ogilby, P. R., Madsen, M., & Sandby Lissau, J. (2022). Naturally occurring antioxidants for photooxidatively stable flexible organic solar cells. In nanoGe Spring Meeting.
• Rolston, N., Printz, A. D., Hilt, F., Hovish, M. Q., Dauskardt, R. H., Bruning, K., & Tassone, C. J. (2018). Spray Plasma Processing of Barrier Films Deposited in Air for Improved stability of Flexible Electronic Devices. In 2018 IEEE International Interconnect Technology Conference (IITC), 138-140.
  More info

  We report on submicron organosilicate barrier films produced rapidly in ambient by a scalable spray plasma process for improved solar cell stability. The plasma is at a sufficiently low temperature to be compatible with flexible electronic devices. The thickness of the barrier films is tunable and fully transparent over the visible spectrum. The morphology and density of the barrier are shown to improve with the addition of a fluorine-based precursor. Thin-film perovskite solar cells with submicron coatings exhibited significant improvements in stability when exposed to light, heat, and moisture. X-ray diffraction measurements performed while heating showed the barrier film dramatically slows the formation of PbI2. When deposited on a flexible substrate, the barrier films exhibit no signs of cracking or delamination after 10,000 bending cycles on a 127 μm substrate with a bending radius of 1 cm.
• Rolston, N., Printz, A. D., Tracy, J. M., & Dauskardt, R. H. (2018). Effect of Composition and Microstructure on the Mechanical Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells. In 2018 IEEE 7th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion (WCPEC) (A Joint Conference of 45th IEEE PVSC, 28th PVSEC & 34th EU PVSEC), 3509-3513.
  More info

  We report on recent studies characterizing the intrinsic mechanical integrity of perovskite compositions and fully explore the role of various cation combinations, additives, and microstructure on perovskite cohesion. Adding cations to the perovskite decreased mechanical integrity, largely due to smaller grain sizes and increased concentration of PbI 2 . Microindentation hardness testing was performed to estimate the fracture toughness of single-crystal perovskite, and the results indicated perovskites are inherently fragile, even in the absence of grain boundaries and defects. Introducing plastically deformable cations led to a modest improvement in cohesion, and the most robust architecture was observed by infusing perovskite into a porous TiO 2 /ZrO 2 /C layer that provided extrinsic reinforcement to mechanical and environmental stressors.
• Sawyer, E. J., Savagatrup, S., O'Connor, T. F., Makaram, A. S., Burke, D. J., Zaretski, A. V., Printz, A. D., & Lipomi, D. J. (2014, October). Toward intrinsically stretchable organic semiconductors: mechanical properties of high-performance conjugated polymers. In Organic Field-Effect Transistors XIII; and Organic Semiconductors in Sensors and Bioelectronics VII.

Presentations

• Printz, A. D., Samoylov, A., Lang, K., Lohr, P., Dailey, M., Li, Y., & Mcleod, E. (2024). Multifunctional Polymeric-Nanofiber Reinforcement of Perovskite Solar Cells for Improved Mechanical Stability without Performance Trade-Off. Spring Meeting & Exhibit. Seattle, WA: Materials Research Society.
• Printz, A. D. (2019, April). Design Considerations for Flexibility, Stretchability, and Robustness in Next-Generation Thin-Film Electronics. University of Arizona, Department of Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Seminar.
• Rolston, N., Printz, A. D., Hilt, F., Hovish, M. Q., Bruning, K., Tassone, C. J., & Dauskardt, R. H. (2018, June). Spray Plasma Processing of Barrier Films Deposited in Air for Improved Stability of Flexible Electronic Devices. 2018 IEEE INTERNATIONAL INTERCONNECT TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE (IITC).
• Rolston, N., Printz, A. D., Tracy, J. M., & Dauskardt, R. H. (2018, June). Effect of Composition and Microstructure on the Mechanical Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells. 2018 IEEE 7TH WORLD CONFERENCE ON PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY CONVERSION (WCPEC) (A JOINT CONFERENCE OF 45TH IEEE PVSC, 28TH PVSEC & 34TH EU PVSEC).
• Printz, A., Rolston, N., Watson, B., & Dauskardt, R. (2017, APR 2). Reinforced perovskite solar cells designed with integrated polymer scaffolding for robust, efficient photovoltaics. ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY.
• Rolston, N., Printz, A., Dong, S., Watson, B., & Dauskardt, R. (2017, APR 2). Dense silica barrier films for improved efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells deposited in ambient air. ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY.
• Watson, B., Rolston, N., Bush, K., Printz, A., & Dauskardt, R. (2017, APR 2). Overcoming the mechanical fragility of perovskite solar cells using novel cross-linking chemical additives and scaffolds. ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY.