Rapid route to efficient, scalable, and robust perovskite photovoltaics in air

Hilt, Florian; Hovish, Michael Q.; Rolston, Nicholas; Brüning, Karsten; Tassone, Christopher J.; Dauskardt, Reinhold H.

doi:10.1039/c8ee01065j

Cited by 50 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Atmospheric plasma deposition is a thin‐film deposition technique, which provides a means for synthesizing metal oxide materials at low temperature and on plastic substrates . Molecular dissociation or fragmentation of a precursor can proceed via several nonhydrolytic reaction pathways, including thermal decomposition, photolysis, penning ionization, or oxidation by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) . The fragmentation of the precursor creates a broad distribution of inorganic and organic radicals which undergo rapid step‐growth polymerization on the surface of a substrate .…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Open Air Plasma Deposition of Superhydrophilic Titania Coatings

Hovish

Hilt

Rolston

et al. 2019

Adv Funct Materials

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A method for the deposition and functionalization of a nanostructured organotitanate thin film, which imparts superhydrophilicity to a surface with a one-step, open-air process, is described. Extreme wetting (Θ < 5°) is achieved through synergistic contributions from both nanoscale roughness, visible light absorption caused by nonmetal dopants, and oxygen vacancies and surface activation by reactive plasma species. To test the efficacy of this material as an antifog coating, glass is coated and subjected to aggressive changes in humidity. Under both fogging and defrosting conditions, the superhydrophilic coating achieves a high degree of transparency, showing nearly two orders of magnitude improvement over the bare glass. The measured adhesion of the superhydrophilic coating is 5.9 J m −2 , nearly double that of the solution-processed control. The reliability of the coating is further validated by demonstrating scratch-resistance. Additionally, the incorporation of organic matter into the molecular structure of the coating disrupts long-range crystallinity from developing. This structural and subsequent chemical analysis of the coating reveals that inorganic and organic species are intimately connected at the nanoscale via alkyl and alkoxy bridges. The amorphous organotitanate material is distinct from conventional TiO 2 , which requires high temperature crystallization and extensive UV irradiation to display similar superhydrophilic qualities.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Open Air Plasma Deposition of Superhydrophilic Titania Coatings

Hovish

Hilt

Rolston

et al. 2019

Adv Funct Materials

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“…We have demonstrated that open-air plasmas are effective at converting high-quality single, double, and triple cation compositions with a range of bandgaps into high-quality perovskite films (Hilt et al, 2018;Hovish et al, 2020;Rolston et al, 2020) and dense organosilicate barrier films (Rolston et al, 2017). This patented open-air Rapid Spray Plasma Process (RSPP) is a new scalable method for the ultra-fast deposition and cure of both efficient and mechanically robust thin films (Figures 1B,C) and PV modules (Figures 1D,E).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspectives of Open-Air Processing to Enable Perovskite Solar Cell Manufacturing

et al. 2021

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We report high throughput open-air processing techniques for the scalable production of all device and barrier layers for perovskite photovoltaics (PV). This work discusses and resolves some of the most formidable barriers to module-level scaling that the perovskite community has been facing. Our advanced technoeconomic manufacturing analysis indicates that vacuum-based processes with high capital expenditures (CapEx) and low throughputs dominate the cost of production. Open-air fabrication methods offer low CapEx routes to manufacturing, but achieving reproducibility in ambient conditions with varying relative humidity has been a persistent challenge. The use of rapid processing methods with plasma curing to convert films from the solution-state enables reproducibility, moisture immunity, and the highest perovskite PV efficiency produced in open-air. These methods are readily translatable to in-line processing where layers are sequentially deposited without the need for lengthy post-annealing steps that reduce throughput and involve additional equipment. Significant progress is demonstrated in reduced manufacturing costs as perovskites contend as a commercially viable next-generation thin film PV technology.

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“…The application of plasma is mostly confined to surface cleaning and removal of impurities from fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) and indium tin oxide (ITO) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and PSCs, improving device performance. However, recently the applications of plasma in PSCs have been widened to encompass improvement in device stability [51], surface modification [52], spray deposition of the perovskite active layer [53] and tuning the work function and surface energy of HTMs [54].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(iii) A scalable, atmospheric pressure plasma, post-deposition technique to rapidly form an efficient and mechanically robust CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite layer without the need of a hot plate for curing the active material was reported by Hilt et al [53]. An air plasma arc discharge was used for 250 ms exposure to obtain defect-free films showing ultrafast crystallization and a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.7%.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficient hole transport material formed by atmospheric pressure plasma functionalization of Spiro-OMeTAD

Ghosh

Ivaturi

Bhattacharya

et al. 2020

Materials Today Chemistry

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A technique to increase the conductivity of Spiro-OMeTAD using an easily scalable, nonthermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) is reported. An investigation of plasma functionalization demonstrated an enhancement in hole conductivity by over an order of magnitude from 9.4 × 10-7 S cm-1 for the pristine film to 1.15 × 10-5 S cm-1 for films after 5 minutes of plasma treatment. The conductivity value after plasma functionalization was comparable to that reported for 10 -25% Li-TFSI-doped Spiro-OMeTAD. The increase in conductivity was correlated with a reduction in phase value observed using electrostatic force microscopy. Kelvin probe force microscopy showed an increase in work function after plasma exposure corresponding to the p-type nature of the doping. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed surface oxidation of plasma-functionalized films, as well as variation in nitrogen chemistry, with the formation of a higher binding energy quaternary nitrogen tail. Oxidation of Spiro-OMeTAD was also confirmed by the appearance of the 500 nm absorption peak using UV-vis spectroscopy. The synergistic contribution of increase in charge density in Spiro-OMeTAD due to the energetic species in the plasma jet coupled with improvement in π-π stacking of the molecules is thought to underlie the conductivity enhancement. We also attribute the formation of quinoid structures with quaternary nitrogen +N=C to the enhancement in positive charge centres due to loss of methoxy groups during plasma-surface interaction. This work opens up the possibility of using an atmospheric pressure plasma jet as a simple and effective technique for doping and functionalizing Spiro-OMeTAD thin films to circumvent the detrimental issues associated with chemical dopants.

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Rapid route to efficient, scalable, and robust perovskite photovoltaics in air

Abstract: RSPP is a unique up-scalable method to produce high quality photoactive perovskite in seconds in open-air.

Cited by 50 publications

References 36 publications

Open Air Plasma Deposition of Superhydrophilic Titania Coatings

Open Air Plasma Deposition of Superhydrophilic Titania Coatings

Perspectives of Open-Air Processing to Enable Perovskite Solar Cell Manufacturing

Efficient hole transport material formed by atmospheric pressure plasma functionalization of Spiro-OMeTAD

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