Push Coating Technique Applied for a Bulk-heterojunction Solar Cell

Abstract

The push coating technique was applied to fabricate a bulk heterojunction PTB7:PC 71 BM organic solar cell. A PTB7:PC 71 BM dichlorobenzene solution was dropped and push-coated on the PEDOT:PSS deposited ITO glass surface with a dimension of 13 x 19 mm 2 , and only 5 µl of the solution was enough to cover the entire surface of the substrate. The thickness variation of the active layer ranged between 25 and 55 nm. The acceptable performance of the fabricated solar cell indicates that the push coating technique will be applicable to polymer solar cell fabrication processes with the minimum loss of the organic semiconductor materials.

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“…Despite the fact that slot‐die coating and blade‐coating have similar film formation kinetics, PSCs fabricated by blade‐coating generally exhibit higher performances compared to slot‐die coated ones . Recently, unconventional techniques such as electrospray deposition and push‐coating have demonstrated their potential for high performance device fabrication . Here, I will compare the methods that yield relatively high PCEs, namely, spin‐coating, blade‐coating, electrospray deposition and push‐coating, in terms of cost reduction, environment‐friendliness and sustainability (Figure ).…”

“…On the other hand, push‐coating is a relatively new coating process that allows for eco‐friendly and low‐cost fabrication of organic electronic devices . Push‐coated films are produced by depositing a very small amount of solution on a substrate (less than 5 μl for covered areas of 5 cm 2 ) on which a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)‐based elastomer is placed.…”

“…Kobayashi et al . then successfully fabricated push‐coated PSCs with much lower PCE values as compared to spin‐coated ones . This first study on push‐coated PSCs used extremely thin PDMS films which likely induced the formation of non‐uniform active layers due to PDMS buckling upon exposure to chlorinated solvent.…”