Simple roll coater with variable coating and temperature control for printed polymer solar cells

A simple and low cost thin film solution processing system comprising a single roll coating machine has been developed to allow direct investigation of variable parameter effects in roll-to-roll processing. We present roll coating of the active layers in polymer solar cells and validate the instrument by reinvestigating the well known effect of solvent on performance. We obtained a maximum power conversion efficiency of 1.6% for the reference cells, which compares well with reported roll-to-roll coated cells according to ProcessOne, with a relative deviation caused by solvent type nearing 40% on roll coated cells, confirming the solvent to have a significant influence on the performance of the finished cell. We further present a slot-die coating head with an ultra low dead volume allowing for the preparation of roll coated polymer solar cells on flexible substrates with nearly no loss of solution, enabling roll coating testing of new polymers where only small amounts are often available. We demonstrate the formation of >50 solar cells (each with an active area of 1 cm2) with printed metal back electrodes using as little as 0.1 mL of active layer solution. This approach outperforms spin coating with respect to temperature control, ink usage, speed and is directly compatible with industrial processing and upscaling.

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► A small laboratory roll coater comparable in size to a spin coater was developed that fits directly inside a standard fume hood or a glove box.
► 50 solar cells with an active area of 1 cm2 could be prepared with 0.1 mL solution.
► A slot-die coating head with a very small dead volume is described.
► The system was employed to explore the effect of a heated roller and different coating solvents.
► Use of printed back electrodes enabled fast preparation of the solar cells.