Manufacturing method of solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells and electrolyte filling device used therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9530570-B2
Application number	US-201314141870-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 27, 2013
Priority date	May 10, 2013
Publication date	Dec 27, 2016
Grant date	Dec 27, 2016

Abstract

The present description is directed to a manufacturing method of solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells and a solid-state electrolyte filling device used in the manufacturing method. The present invention provides a manufacturing method of dye-sensitized solar cells that fills the solid-state electrolyte more uniformly with enhanced efficiency to secure higher light-to-energy conversion efficiency.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A manufacturing method of dye-sensitized solar cells, comprising:
(a) forming a porous layer comprising metal oxide particles on a substrate;
(b) adsorbing a photosensitized dye on the porous layer;
(c) filling a solid-state electrolyte in pores of the porous layer with the photosensitized dye adsorbed thereon under vacuum conditions by increasing pressure to atmospheric pressure from under vacuum conditions of 50 to 70 kPa; and
(d) forming a metal electrode on the porous layer filled with the solid-state electrolyte.

2. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the step (c) of filling the solid-state electrolyte is performed by gradually increasing pressure to atmospheric pressure under vacuum conditions of 50 to 70 kPa results in filling the pores of the porous layer with the solid-state electrolyte through diffusion.

3. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises; a transparent substrate; a conductive thin film formed on the transparent substrate; and a blocking layer covering the conductive thin film, being adjacent to the porous layer, and containing a metal oxide.

4. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the transparent substrate is a plastic substrate, a glass substrate, a quartz substrate, or a silicon substrate, the plastic substrate comprising any one selected from the group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polyimide, triacetyl cellulose, polyether sulfone, methyltriethoxysilane, ethyltriethoxysilane, and propyltriethoxysilane.

5. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the conductive thin film comprises a metal nitride, a metal oxide, a carbon compound, or a conductive polymer.

6. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the blocking layer comprises a titanium oxide.

7. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the blocking layer has a thickness of 100 to 250 nm.

8. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the step (a) of forming the porous layer is performed by applying a paste comprising metal oxide particles, a binder, and a solvent onto the substrate and then performing heat treatment at a temperature of 450 to 550° C. for 1 to 2 hours.

9. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the metal oxide particles contained in the porous layer are particles of at least one metal oxide selected from the group consisting of titanium (Ti) oxide, zirconium (Zr) oxide, strontium (Sr) oxide, zinc (Zn) oxide, indium (In) oxide, lanthanum (La) oxide, vanadium (V) oxide, molybdenum (Mo) oxide, tungsten (W) oxide, tin (Sn) oxide, niobium (Nb) oxide, magnesium (Mg) oxide, aluminum (Al) oxide, yttrium (Y) oxide, scandium (Sc) oxide, samarium (Sm) oxide, and gallium (Ga) oxide, or composite oxide particles thereof.

10. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the porous layer 20 has a thickness of 1 to 10 μm.

11. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the step (b) of adsorbing the photosensitized dye is performed by immersing the substrate 10 having the porous layer 20 formed thereon in a solution containing a photosensitized dye for 10 minutes to 24 hours.

12. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the photosensitized dye includes a compound having a band gap of 1 to 3.1 eV.

13. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the solid-state electrolyte includes at least one compound selected from the group consisting of N,N′-diphenyl-N,N′-bis(3-methylphenyl)-1,1′-biphenyl-4,4′-diamine, poly[(2-methoxy-5-(3′,7′-dimethyloctyloxy))-1,4-phenylenevinylene], poly(N-vinylcarbazole), N,N′-di(1-naphthyl)-N,N′-diphenylbenzidine, 4,4′-bis(carbazol-9-yl)-biphenyl, (deoxyribonucleic acid)-(hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride), poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulphonic acid), and 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenyl-amine)-9,9′-spirobifluorene.

14. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the step (d) of forming the metal electrode is performed by sputtering, cathode arc deposition, vapor deposition, electron beam deposition, chemical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition, electrochemical deposition, spin coating, spray coating, doctor blade coating, or screen printing.

15. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the metal electrode has a thickness of 50 to 300 nm.

16. The manufacturing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the metal electrode comprises silver (Ag), gold (Au), or a mixture thereof.

Assignees

• Korea Inst Sci & Tech

Inventors

• Ko Min-Jae
• Lee Doh-Kwon
• Kim Hong-Gon
• Kim Jin-Young
• Yoo Ki-Cheon
• Lee Jin-Ah
• Kim Bong-Soo

Classifications

• H10F10/00

  Individual photovoltaic cells, e.g. solar cells (electrolytic light-sensitive devices, e.g. dye-sensitised solar cells, H01G9/20) · CPC title

• H10F71/00 Primary

  Manufacture or treatment of devices covered by this subclass (patterning processes to connect thin photovoltaic cells in integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, having photovoltaic cells H10F19/33; manufacture or treatment of encapsulations or containers for integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, having photovoltaic cells H10F19/80; manufacture or treatment of integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, comprising at least one element in which radiation controls the flow of current H10F39/00) · CPC title

• H01G9/2059

  comprising an organic dye as the active light absorbing material, e.g. adsorbed on an electrode or dissolved in solution · CPC title

• H01G9/2031

  comprising titanium oxide, e.g. TiO2 (H01G9/2036 takes precedence) · CPC title

• Y02E10/542

  Dye sensitized solar cells · CPC title