Method for making polymer solar cell

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10784454-B2
Application number	US-201816155899-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 10, 2018
Priority date	Apr 16, 2018
Publication date	Sep 22, 2020
Grant date	Sep 22, 2020

Abstract

A method for making a polymer solar cell includes the following steps: placing a portion of a carbon nanotube layer into a polymer solution, wherein the carbon nanotube layer includes a plurality of carbon nanotubes; curing the polymer solution to form a polymer layer including a first polymer surface and a second polymer surface opposite to the first polymer surface, wherein the portion of the carbon nanotube layer is embedded in the polymer layer, and another portion of the carbon nanotube layer is exposed from the polymer layer; and forming a cathode electrode on a surface of the carbon nanotube layer away from the polymer layer, and forming an anode electrode on the first polymer surface, wherein the anode electrode is spaced apart from the carbon nanotube layer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for making a polymer solar cell, comprising:
placing a portion of a carbon nanotube layer into a polymer solution, wherein the carbon nanotube layer comprises a plurality of carbon nanotubes;
curing the polymer solution to form a polymer layer comprising a first polymer surface and a second polymer surface opposite to the first polymer surface, wherein the portion of the carbon nanotube layer is embedded in the polymer layer, and another portion of the carbon nanotube layer is not embedded in the polymer layer and exposed from the first polymer surface of the polymer layer; and
forming a cathode electrode on a surface of the carbon nanotube layer away from the polymer layer, and forming an anode electrode on the first polymer surface, wherein the anode electrode is spaced apart from the carbon nanotube layer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein length directions of the plurality of carbon nanotubes are parallel to the first polymer surface.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of carbon nanotubes entangled with each other.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of carbon nanotubes are substantially parallel to each other.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein after curing the polymer solution, length directions of the plurality of carbon nanotubes are substantially perpendicular to the first polymer surface.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising forming an insulating layer on the first polymer surface after curing the polymer solution and before forming the cathode electrode, wherein each of the plurality of carbon nanotubes is exposed from the polymer layer and passes through the insulating layer to be in direct contact with the cathode electrode.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising pressing the carbon nanotube layer to tilt the plurality of carbon nanotubes before curing the polymer solution.

8. The method of claim 5 , further comprising pretreating the carbon nanotube layer before curing the polymer solution, wherein the pretreating the carbon nanotube layer comprises following sub-steps:
adhering the carbon nanotube layer to a surface of an elastic support, wherein the length directions of the plurality of carbon nanotubes are substantially perpendicular to the surface of the elastic support; and
respectively pulling two opposite ends of the elastic support along opposite directions.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising patterning the portion of the carbon nanotube layer exposed from the polymer layer after curing the polymer solution, to form a plurality of sub-carbon nanotube layers spaced apart from each other, and the forming the anode electrode comprises forming a sub-anode electrode between two adjacent sub-carbon nanotube layers.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a reflective layer located on a surface of the cathode electrode away from the carbon nanotube layer after forming the cathode electrode.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a reflective layer located on the second polymer surface after curing the polymer layer.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming an exciton blocking layer on a surface of the carbon nanotube layer away from the polymer layer after curing the polymer solution, and then forming the cathode electrode on a surface of the exciton blocking layer away from the carbon nanotube layer.

13. A method for making a polymer solar cell, comprising:
placing a portion of a carbon nanotube layer into a polymer solution, wherein the carbon nanotube layer comprises a plurality of carbon nanotubes;
curing the polymer solution to form a polymer layer comprising a first polymer surface, a second polymer surface opposite to the first polymer surface, and a polymer side surface connected to the first polymer surface and the second polymer surface, wherein the portion of the carbon nanotube layer is embedded in the polymer layer, and another portion of the carbon nanotube layer is exposed from the first polymer surface of the polymer layer; and
forming a cathode electrode on a surface of the carbon nanotube layer away from the polymer layer, and forming an anode electrode on the polymer side surface, wherein the anode electrode is spaced apart from the carbon nanotube layer.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the anode electrode is a ring to surround entire side surface of the polymer layer.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein after curing the polymer solution, length directions of the plurality of carbon nanotubes are parallel to the first polymer surface.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein after curing the polymer solution, length directions of the plurality of carbon nanotubes are substantially perpendicular to the first polymer surface.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising forming an insulating layer on the first polymer surface after curing the polymer solution and before forming the cathode electrode, wherein each of the plurality of carbon nanotubes is exposed from the polymer layer and passes through the insulating layer to be in direct contact with the cathode electrode.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising pressing the carbon nanotube layer to tilt the plurality of carbon nanotubes before curing the polymer solution.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising pretreating the carbon nanotube layer before curing the polymer solution, wherein the pretreating the carbon nanotube layer comprises following sub-steps:
adhering the carbon nanotube layer to a surface of an elastic support, wherein the length directions of the plurality of carbon nanotubes are substantially perpendicular to the surface of the elastic support; and
respectively pulling two opposite ends of the elastic support along opposite directions.

20. A method for making a polymer solar cell, comprising:
placing a portion of a carbon nanotube layer into a polymer solution, wherein the carbon nanotube layer comprises a plurality of carbon nanotubes;
curing the polymer solution to form a polymer layer comprising a first polymer surface and a second polymer surface opposite to the first polymer surface, wherein the portion of the carbon nanotube layer is embedded in the polymer layer, and another portion of the carbon nanotube layer is not embedded in the polymer layer and exposed from the first polymer surface of the polymer layer; and
forming a cathode electrode on a surface of the carbon nanotube layer away from the polymer layer, and forming an anode electrode on the first polymer surface, wherein the anode electrode is spaced apart from the carbon nanotube layer, and the cathode electrode and the anode electrode are located on the same side of the polymer layer.

Assignees

• Univ Tsinghua
• Hon Hai Prec Ind Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ning Wen
• Liu Peng
• Jiang Kai-Li
• Fan Shou-Shan

Classifications

• H10K30/352

  the inorganic nanostructures being nanotubes or nanowires, e.g. CdTe nanotubes in P3HT polymer · CPC title

• H10K30/50

  Photovoltaic [PV] devices · CPC title

• H10K30/353

  comprising blocking layers, e.g. exciton blocking layers · CPC title

• H10K85/10 Primary

  Organic polymers or oligomers · CPC title

• Y02P70/50

  Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product · CPC title