“Green” Fabrication of High-performance Transparent Conducting Electrodes by Blade Coating and Photonic Curing on PET for Perovskite Solar Cells

Journal Article · Tue Nov 05 00:00:00 EST 2024 · Materials and Sustainability

DOI:https://doi.org/10.53941/matsus.2025.100002· OSTI ID:2498366

Bonner, Justin C ^[1]; Piper, Robert T; Bhandari, Bishal; Allen, Cody; Bowers, Cynthia T; Ostendorf, Melinda A.; Davis, Matthew; Valdez, Marisol; Lee, Mark; Hsu, Julia W.P. ^[1]

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1. University of Texas at Dallas

This study presents an innovative material processing approach to fabricate transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates using blade coating and photonic curing. The hybrid TCEs consist of a multiscale Ag network, combining silver metal bus lines and nanowires, overcoated by an indium zinc oxide layer, and then photonically cured. Blade coating ensures film uniformity and thickness control over large areas. Photonic curing, a non-thermal processing method with significantly lower carbon emissions, enhances the conductivity and transparency of the coated layers. Our hybrid TCEs achieve an average transmittance of (81 ± 0.4)% referenced to air ((90 ± 0.4)% referenced to the PET substrate) in the visible range, an average sheet resistance of (11 ± 0.5) Ω sq−1, and an average surface roughness of (4.3 ± 0.4) nm. We benchmark these values against commercial PET/TCE substrates. Mechanical durability tests demonstrate <3% change in resistance after 2000 bending cycles at a 1 in radius. The scalable potential of the hybrid TCE fabrication method is demonstrated by high uniformity and excellent properties in 7 in × 8 in large-area samples and by performing the photonic curing process at 11 m min−1. Furthermore, halide perovskite solar cells fabricated on these hybrid TCEs achieve average and champion power conversion efficiencies of (10.5 ± 1.0) % and 12.2%, respectively, and significantly outperform devices made on commercial PET/TCEs. This work showcases our approach as a viable pathway for high-speed “green” manufacturing of high-performance TCEs on PET substrates for flexible optoelectronic devices.

• Research Organization: University of Texas at Dallas
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
• Grant/Contract Number: EE0009518
• OSTI ID: 2498366
• Journal Information: Materials and Sustainability, Journal Name: Materials and Sustainability Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 1; ISSN 2982-2785
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English