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Surface activation of rigid and flexible substrates for thin film photovoltaics using atmospheric pressure plasma
conference contribution
posted on 2017-01-06, 14:01 authored by Fabiana Lisco, Alexander H. Shaw, Alec Wright, Felipe IzaFelipe Iza, Michael WallsMichael WallsReducing fabrication costs is a major driving
force in photovoltaic research. Atmospheric processes
such as spin coating, spraying or printing are being
developed to reduce the cost/Wp of CIGS, CZTS and
perovskite solar technologies. For all technologies,
surface cleaning and activation prior to thin film
deposition is required and for this vacuum based low
pressure plasma is a well-established technique.
However, a vacuum based surface pre-treatment is not
compatible with atmospheric deposition methods. We
show that atmospheric-pressure plasmas are highly
effective in activating the surface of substrates
commonly used in photovoltaic device fabrication and
demonstrate its effectiveness on both rigid and flexible
substrates. The effectiveness of using atmosphericpressure
plasmas to increase surface energy is
demonstrated using Water Contact Angle (WCA)
measurements and chemical changes are analysed using
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Scanning
Electron Microscopy (SEM) images show no alteration
of the surface morphology of the substrates after the
plasma treatment.
Funding
The authors are grateful to UKERC for provision of funding through the EPSRC Supergen SuperSolar Hub.
History
School
- Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering