College of Engineering

Jared Wallace

College of Engineering Chemical Engineering

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jason B.

Baxter Chemical & Biological Engineering

Scalable Coating Methods for Perovskite Solar Cells

Solar cells are a vital technology in the renewable energy field and have a range of applications. Recently, there has been a growing interest in organic metal halide perovskite photovoltaic cells due to their low cost and relative abundance. Devices have been made with power conversion efficiencies of up to 22.7%. To mass produce these devices, both doctor blading and slot die coating were explored due to their low cost and scalability. Experiments were run using a doctor blading method to coat fluorine-doped tin oxide glass substrates with CH3 NH3 SnI3 nanocrystal precursor ink. Manual tests were run in an inert atmosphere using a rail system to move a blade coater across a substrate covered in ink. After achieving relatively uniform films, an automated process was made to obtain reproducible results. This required programmable syringe pumps to move the substrate at an exact speed and ink to be dispersed at a given flow rate using a 3D-printed slot die. Fixing the speed of the substrate and the flow rate of the precursor ensures a controlled thickness of the film by preventing human error. Automating the process will help uncover relationships between processing parameters and enable the production of more efficient devices.