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Ultrafast near infrared sintering of TiO 2 layers on metal substrates for dye‐sensitized solar cells
Author(s) -
Watson Trystan,
Mabbett Ian,
Wang Hongxia,
Peter Laurence,
Worsley David
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
progress in photovoltaics: research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.286
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1099-159X
pISSN - 1062-7995
DOI - 10.1002/pip.1041
Subject(s) - sintering , materials science , titanium , ultrashort pulse , metal , dye sensitized solar cell , infrared , chemical engineering , metallurgy , near infrared spectroscopy , limiting , nanotechnology , electrode , chemistry , optics , mechanical engineering , laser , physics , electrolyte , engineering
A limiting step to roll‐to‐roll production of dye‐sensitized solar cells on metals is TiO 2 sintering (10–30 min). Near infrared (NIR) heating is a novel process innovation which directly heats titanium substrates giving rapid binder removal and sintering. NIR heating (for 12.5 s) at varying power gave titanium temperatures of 545, 685 and 817°C yielding cells with efficiencies of 2.9, 2.8 and 2.5%. Identical cells prepared in a conventional oven (1800 s) at 500, 600 and 800°C gave 2.9, 2.6 and 0.2% efficiency. NIR sintering is ultrafast and has a wide process window making it ideal for rapid manufacturing on metals. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.