Roll-to-roll micro-gravure printed large-area zinc oxide thin film as the electron transport layer for solution-processed polymer solar cells

Zhang, Chujun; Luo, Qun; Wu, Han; Li, Hengyue; Lai, Junqi; Ji, Guoqi; Yan, Linpeng; Wang, Xiaofeng; Zhang, Dou; Lin, Jian; Chen, Liwei; Yang, Junliang; Ma, Chang‐Qi

doi:10.1016/j.orgel.2017.03.015

Cited by 89 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…For example, by slot‐die coating, flexible modules based on P3HT:PCBM (20.6 cm 2 ) and PTB7‐th:p‐DTS:PC 71 BM (20 cm 2 ) achieved PCE of 1.4% and 5.18%, respectively . By gravure coating, flexible modules based on PTB7‐th:PCBM system achieved a PCE of 6.61% on a striped pattern with a width of 13 mm and a gap of 2 mm . Likewise, as discussed earlier, as spray coating requires additional techniques to form a uniform layer, while the ink formulation in inkjet printing needs a variety of solutions and due to the difficult assembly setup of gravure printing and flexographic printing, the slot‐die coating has emerged as the most preferable method for large‐area processing due to its simple steps and low cost.…”

Section: Methods For Upscale Fabricationmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Similarly, an effective PCE of 9.8% PCE has been obtained recently via the blade coating method over a substrate with an area of 56 mm 2 . Likewise, by screen printing a P3HT:PCBM system, Zhang et al were able to achieve a PCE of 4.23% with an effective area of 9 mm 2 , whereas a PTB7‐th:PCBM system was processed by utilizing the expensive gravure coating method to achieve a PCE of 6.61% on a striped pattern with a width of 13 mm and a gap of 2 mm . A quick comparison among these results again highlights the slot‐die method to be the most effective method for large‐scale fabrication.…”

Section: Methods For Upscale Fabricationmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Large‐Area Organic Solar Cells: Material Requirements, Modular Designs, and Printing Methods

et al. 2018

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The printing of large‐area organic solar cells (OSCs) has become a frontier for organic electronics and is also regarded as a critical step in their industrial applications. With the rapid progress in the field of OSCs, the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) for small‐area devices is approaching 15%, whereas the PCE for large‐area devices has also surpassed 10% in a single cell with an area of ≈1 cm2. Here, the progress of this fast developing area is reviewed, mainly focusing on: 1) material requirements (materials that are able to form efficient thick active layer films for large‐area printing); 2) modular designs (effective designs that can suppress electrical, geometric, optical, and additional losses, leading to a reduction in the PCE of the devices, as a consequence of substrate area expansion); and 3) printing methods (various scalable fabrication techniques that are employed for large‐area fabrication, including knife coating, slot‐die coating, screen printing, inkjet printing, gravure printing, flexographic printing, pad printing, and brush coating). By combining thick‐film material systems with efficient modular designs exhibiting low‐efficiency losses and employing the right printing methods, the fabrication of large‐area OSCs will be successfully realized in the near future.

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Section: Methods For Upscale Fabricationmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Methods For Upscale Fabricationmentioning

confidence: 97%

Large‐Area Organic Solar Cells: Material Requirements, Modular Designs, and Printing Methods

et al. 2018

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“…Notably, roll‐to‐roll processing provides a low‐cost and efficient way for large‐scale device production. This method starts with rolls of flexible materials and ends with rereeling to output rolls after a series of processing such as coating and printing . Fortunately, the flexible nature of FPSCs allows roll‐to‐roll fabrication, which is a high‐output manufacture and has been extensively used in the industry, whereas there still remain several concerns ( Figure ) .…”

Section: Challenges In Fabricating Fpscsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Advances of Device Components toward Efficient Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells

2020

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Flexible solar cells have launched potential applications in diverse areas, such as civil engineering, consumer electronics, electric automobile, and aerospace use. In recent years, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been successful with a rocketing power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 3.8% to 25.2% in the last decade. Due to its material flexibility, together with low‐cost and facile fabrication processes, perovskites have certainly been considered as a promising candidate for the next generation of flexible solar cells. So far, the PCE of single‐junction flexible perovskite solar cells (FPSCs) has reached 19.51%, which retains researchers' great enthusiasm for further development and applications of FPSCs. Herein, a brief review of the recent advances in the structural components of FPSCs is presented, including perovskite absorber layers, flexible substrates, transparent bottom electrodes, and charge carrier transport layers. In particular, the focus is on the development of low‐temperature fabrication processes of the aforementioned compositional layer structures. Finally, noticeable achievements and annual milestones are discussed and summarized, and suggestions for further improvement of FPSCs and their ways toward commercialization are presented.

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“…ZnO is a well‐known n‐type semiconductor with high electron mobility and transmittance . In particular, its low‐temperature solution‐processability (<150 °C) is appropriate for roll‐to‐roll printing technology on flexible substrates . However, its relatively high work function of ≈4.3 eV requires further electric dipole layers for improving the charge transporting characteristics of the CQD layers .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved Performance of Quantum‐Dot Photodetectors Using Cheap and Environmentally Friendly Polyethylene Glycol

Kang

Park

Jeong

et al. 2018

Adv Materials Inter

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there are many important applications, such as imaging and biomedical sensors, [14,15] X-ray detectors, [16] and optical communications. [17] For p-n junction QPDs, important parameters are the interfacial contact properties at the p-n junction because the internal electric field at the interfaces can decrease the trap site and charge recombination for efficient charge transport in QPDs. [18][19][20] Recently, Wei et al. reported promising photodetecting properties by developing hybrid organic/PbS CQD based QPDs. [21] The CQD layer improved the electron transport and prevented charge recombination in the devices. Thus, the bilayer contact between the bulk-heterojunction conjugated organic layer and the CQD active layer significantly decreased the dark current and improved charge collection. However, no studies were done to improve the charge collection and decrease the dark current in QPDs via modifying the interfacial properties among the CQD layer and the electron accepting layers (EALs).In this study, we have focused on the interfacial properties among CQDs and electron-accepting ZnO layers by introducing organic cathode buffer layers (CBLs) to improve the photodetecting properties of QPDs. ZnO is a well-known n-type semiconductor with high electron mobility and transmittance. [22,23] In particular, its low-temperature solution-processability (<150 °C) is appropriate for roll-to-roll printing technology on flexible substrates. [24,25] However, its relatively high work function of ≈4.3 eV requires further electric dipole layers for improving the charge transporting characteristics of the CQD layers. [26] In addition, the rough surface morphology from its crystalline structure worsens the uniform contact among the CQD and ZnO layers. To reduce the surface roughness and work function of the ZnO layer, we introduced polyethylenimine ethoxylated (PEIE) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as the CBLs. PEIE has multiple hydroxyl side groups, which effectively generate permanent dipole moments at the interface of ZnO, and is successfully utilized in solar cells applications. [27,28] However, in the case of PEG, even though the ethylene glycol functional groups can coordinate with the ZnO layer, it has seldom been used in electronic applications to modify the EALs. [29] PEG is biologically safe, water soluble, and relatively cheap; thus, the utilization of PEG is environmentally and industrially attractive. Colloidal quantum dot (CQD) photodetectors (PDs) are developed. The on/off current ratio is improved by applying organic cathode buffer layers (CBLs), such as polyethylenimine ethoxylated (PEIE) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). The on-current of CQD-PDs (QPDs) is increased by the decreased work function of ZnO/CBLs via forming a permanent dipole moment at the interface of ZnO andCBLs. The off-current is significantly decreased by the improved interfacial morphology via softening the ZnO surfaces. In the photoconductive mode for the fast response time of a signal, PEG-and PEIE-treated QPDs exhibit improved photodetecting pro...

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Roll-to-roll micro-gravure printed large-area zinc oxide thin film as the electron transport layer for solution-processed polymer solar cells

Cited by 89 publications

References 38 publications

Large‐Area Organic Solar Cells: Material Requirements, Modular Designs, and Printing Methods

Large‐Area Organic Solar Cells: Material Requirements, Modular Designs, and Printing Methods

Recent Advances of Device Components toward Efficient Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells

Improved Performance of Quantum‐Dot Photodetectors Using Cheap and Environmentally Friendly Polyethylene Glycol

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