Scale-up fabrication and characteristic study of oligomer-like small-molecule solar cells by ambient halogen-free sheet-to-sheet and roll-to-roll slot-die coating

Solar cells are important alternatives to fossil fuels for energy generation in today’s world, where the demand for alternative, renewable sources of energy is increasing. However, solar cells, which are installed outdoors, are susceptible to pollution by environmental factors. A solution to overcome this limitation involves coating solar cell surfaces with functional coatings. In this study, we propose a transmittance control method for a tensioned web in a roll-to-roll, transparent, water-repellent film coating. First, we analyzed the effects of process conditions on the transmittance and contact angle of the transparent water-repellent film during roll-to-roll slot-die coating. It was confirmed that the tension was the most dominant factor, followed by the coating gap. Through the tension control, the transmittance was changed by 3.27%, and the contact angle of the DI water was changed by 17.7°. In addition, it was confirmed that the transmittance was changed by 0.8% and the contact angle of DI water by 3.9° via the coating gap control. Based on these results, a transmittance prediction model was developed according to the tension and coating gap, and was then verified experimentally. Finally, a water-repellent film with a high transmittance of 89.77% was obtained using this model.

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Meniscus Guide Slot-Die Coating For Roll-to-Roll Perovskite Solar Cells

MRS Advances ◽

10.1557/adv.2019.79 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (24) ◽

pp. 1399-1407 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Daniel Burkitt ◽

Peter Greenwood ◽

Katherine Hooper ◽

David Richards ◽

Vasil Stoichkov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Deposition Process ◽

Low Flow ◽

Plastic Substrate ◽

Lead Iodide ◽

Perovskite Layer ◽

Slot Die Coating ◽

Roll To Roll ◽

Slot Die

Abstract:Roll-to-roll slot-die coating with a meniscus guide is used to deposit several layers in a P-I-N perovskite solar cell stack, including the perovskite layer. The use of various length meniscus guides as part of the slot-die head allows controlled coating of these layers at a common coating speed. The length of meniscus guide used is optimised and related to the rheology of the coated ink and appropriate choice of meniscus guide length provides a way to avoid flooding of the coated area and improve coating definition. Initial coating trial results suggest the low-flow limit of slot-die coating is still applicable when using a meniscus guide, which is an important and previously unreported observation, application of this theory to meniscus guide coating provides a useful tool for rapidly determining the appropriate coating conditions that can be used as part of a manufacturing process. This is further explored through the deposition of perovskite solar cells by roll-to-roll slot-die coating. The perovskite layer is deposited using a sequential slot-die deposition process using a low toxicity dimethyl sulfoxide ink for the lead iodide layer, it is found that increasing the drying oven temperature and air flow rate can be used to improve the uniformity of the layer but this can also result in deformation of the plastic substrate. Functioning perovskite solar cells are demonstrated using this technique, but a large variation is found between device performances which is attributed to the poor uniformity of the perovskite layer and damage caused to the substrate by excessive heating.

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Environmentally friendly and roll-processed flexible organic solar cells based on PM6:Y6.

10.26434/chemrxiv-2021-1j0cd-v3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Marcial Fernández Castro ◽

Jean Truer ◽

Moises Espindola-Rodriguez ◽

Jens Wenzel Andreasen

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Large Scale ◽

Scale Up ◽

Environmentally Friendly ◽

Solution Concentration ◽

Fine Tuning ◽

Slot Die Coating ◽

Slot Die ◽

Conversion Efficiencies

Organic Solar Cells (OSCs) have reached the highest efficiencies using lab-scale on active areas far below 0.1 cm^2. This tends to widen the so-called “lab-to-fab gap”, which is one of the most important challenges to make OSCs competitive. The most commonly used fabrication technique is spin-coating, which has poor compatibility with large-scale techniques and substantial material waste. Moreover, other techniques such as blade or slot-die coating are much more suitable for roll-to-roll manufacturing processes, which is one of the advantages the technology has compared, for example, to silicon solar cells. However, only a few studies report solar cells using these fabrication techniques. Additionally, for the environmentally friendly OSC scale-up, inks based on non-hazardous solvent systems are needed. In this work, slot-die coating has been chosen to coat the PM6:Y6 active layer, using o-xylene, a green solvent, without additives. The optimal coating parameters are defined through fine-tuning of the coating parameters, such as the drying temperature and solution concentration. Moreover, ternary devices with PCBM, and fully printed devices are also fabricated. Power conversion efficiencies of 6.26% and 7.16% are achieved for binary PM6:Y6 and ternary PM6:Y6:PCBM devices, respectively.

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Flexible Planar Heterojunction Perovskite Solar Cells Fabricated via Sequential Roll‐to‐Roll Microgravure Printing and Slot‐Die Coating Deposition

Solar RRL ◽

10.1002/solr.201900204 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 1900204 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Chendi Gong ◽

Sichao Tong ◽

Keqing Huang ◽

Hengyue Li ◽

Han Huang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Coating Deposition ◽

Slot Die Coating ◽

Roll To Roll ◽

Slot Die ◽

Planar Heterojunction

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Hot slot die coating for additive-free fabrication of high performance roll-to-roll processed polymer solar cells

Energy & Environmental Science ◽

10.1039/c8ee02221f ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 3248-3255 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Seyeong Song ◽

Kang Taek Lee ◽

Chang Woo Koh ◽

Hyebeom Shin ◽

Mei Gao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

High Performance ◽

Polymer Solar Cells ◽

3D Printer ◽

Slot Die Coating ◽

Roll To Roll ◽

Flexible Polymer ◽

Slot Die ◽

Coating Method

High performance flexible polymer solar cells are realized by using the 3D printer-based slot die coating method.

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Environmentally friendly and roll-processed flexible organic solar cells based on PM6:Y6.

10.26434/chemrxiv-2021-1j0cd ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Marcial Fernández Castro ◽

Jean Truer ◽

Moises Espindola-Rodriguez ◽

Jens Wenzel Andreasen

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Large Scale ◽

Scale Up ◽

Environmentally Friendly ◽

Solution Concentration ◽

Fine Tuning ◽

Slot Die Coating ◽

Slot Die ◽

Conversion Efficiencies

Organic Solar Cells (OSCs) have reached the highest efficiencies using lab-scale on active areas far below 0.1 cm2. This tends to widen the so-called “lab-to-fab gap”, which is one of the most important challenges to make OSCs competitive. The most commonly used fabrication technique is spin-coating, which has poor compatibility with large-scale techniques and substantial material waste. Moreover, other techniques such as blade or slot-die coating are much more suitable for roll-to-roll manufacturing processes, which is one of the advantages the technology has compared, for example, to silicon solar cells. However, only a few studies report solar cells using these fabrication techniques. Additionally, for the environmentally friendly OSC scale-up, inks based on non-hazardous solvent systems are needed. In this work, slot-die coating has been chosen to coat the PM6:Y6 active layer, using o-xylene, a green solvent, without additives. The optimal coating parameters are defined through fine-tuning of the coating parameters, such as the drying temperature and solution concentration. Moreover, ternary devices with PCBM, and fully printed devices are also fabricated. Power conversion efficiencies of 6.26% and 7.16% are achieved for binary PM6:Y6 and ternary PM6:Y6:PCBM devices, respectively.

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Roll-to-roll slot-die coating of perovskite solar cells with efficiencies up to 13.5%: perspectives from the current status and further potential improvements

10.29363/nanoge.hopv.2019.086 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Ilker Dogan ◽

Francesco Di Giacomo ◽

Henri Fledderus ◽

Harrie Gorter ◽

Gerwin Kirchner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Current Status ◽

Slot Die Coating ◽

Roll To Roll ◽

Slot Die

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Environmentally friendly and roll-processed flexible organic solar cells based on PM6:Y6.

10.26434/chemrxiv-2021-1j0cd-v2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Marcial Fernández Castro ◽

Jean Truer ◽

Moises Espindola-Rodriguez ◽

Jens Wenzel Andreasen

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Large Scale ◽

Scale Up ◽

Environmentally Friendly ◽

Solution Concentration ◽

Fine Tuning ◽

Slot Die Coating ◽

Slot Die ◽

Conversion Efficiencies

Organic Solar Cells (OSCs) have reached the highest efficiencies using lab-scale on active areas far below 0.1 cm^2. This tends to widen the so-called “lab-to-fab gap”, which is one of the most important challenges to make OSCs competitive. The most commonly used fabrication technique is spin-coating, which has poor compatibility with large-scale techniques and substantial material waste. Moreover, other techniques such as blade or slot-die coating are much more suitable for roll-to-roll manufacturing processes, which is one of the advantages the technology has compared, for example, to silicon solar cells. However, only a few studies report solar cells using these fabrication techniques. Additionally, for the environmentally friendly OSC scale-up, inks based on non-hazardous solvent systems are needed. In this work, slot-die coating has been chosen to coat the PM6:Y6 active layer, using o-xylene, a green solvent, without additives. The optimal coating parameters are defined through fine-tuning of the coating parameters, such as the drying temperature and solution concentration. Moreover, ternary devices with PCBM, and fully printed devices are also fabricated. Power conversion efficiencies of 6.26% and 7.16% are achieved for binary PM6:Y6 and ternary PM6:Y6:PCBM devices, respectively.

Download Full-text