Slot-Die-Coated Active Layer for Printed Flexible Back-Contact Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract

Perovskites have already shown potential as active layers in photovoltaic applications. Furthermore, a low-cost and simple solution processing technology allows perovskites to be used in flexible and printed electronics. Perovskite solar cells (PSC) with a back-contact (BC) structure, in which the electrode system is based on a quasi-interdigitated back-contact (QIBC) design, promise to increase the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of devices beyond those that can be obtained using PSCs with a traditional sandwich structure. While the spin-coating technique is used to deposit the perovskite layer of lab-scale BC PSCs, the application of large-area printing techniques to deposit the perovskite layer of such devices is yet to be explored. Therefore, this work demonstrates an application of the slot-die coating technique to print the perovskite active layer of BC PSCs with QIBC electrodes on flexible polymer substrates. The morphology of the obtained perovskite films on QIBC electrodes are investigated and the primary photoelectric parameters of the resulting BC PSCs are measured. The charge carrier recombination processes in the fabricated BC PSCs are investigated and the dominant mechanism for carrier loss in the devices is determined. The findings of the work give an insight into the properties of the slot-die-coated perovskite active layer of BC PSCs and points to exciting new research opportunities in this direction.

Self-Powered Printed Flexible Bifacial Perovskite Photodetector

“…29,30 Low-temperature processability of perovskites allows the fabrication of perovskite optoelectronic devices on plastic substrates. 31,32 Moreover, solution processability makes perovskites also extremely attractive for scale-up manufacturing of devices using printing techniques such as screen printing, gravure printing, relief printing, and inkjet printing as well as spray-coating, blade-coating, and slotdie coating. 33,34 Among them, the slot-die coating technique is one of the attractive ones as it provides a unique combination of minimum ink waste, high-degree control over film thickness, enclosed reservoir for ink, and both sheet-to-sheet (S2S) and roll-to-roll (R2R) processing for large-scale manufacturing.…”

“…Plastic substrates such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) with thin transparent conducting layers are robust, flexible, lightweight, and low cost as compared with their glass alternatives. Flexible electronic devices fabricated on such substrates are resilient and have found applications in many emerging new technologies such as wearable electronics, implantable biomedical devices, IoT technologies, and so on. , Low-temperature processability of perovskites allows the fabrication of perovskite optoelectronic devices on plastic substrates. , Moreover, solution processability makes perovskites also extremely attractive for scale-up manufacturing of devices using printing techniques such as screen printing, gravure printing, relief printing, and inkjet printing as well as spray-coating, blade-coating, and slot-die coating. , Among them, the slot-die coating technique is one of the attractive ones as it provides a unique combination of minimum ink waste, high-degree control over film thickness, enclosed reservoir for ink, and both sheet-to-sheet (S2S) and roll-to-roll (R2R) processing for large-scale manufacturing …”