[Special seminar, 5 May 2023, 3 pm, Wong 1030] Professor James McGettrick (Swansea University, UK)

5 May 2023, 3 pm, Wong 1030

We invite you to join us for our special seminar by Professor James McGettrick (Swansea University, UK), who will talk about XPS & UPS analyses of Roll-to-roll slot-die coated perovskite solar cells. The seminar will be at 3 pm on May 5 in Wong 1030.

Bio

James McGettrick joined the Sustainable Product Engineering Centre for Innovative Functional Industrial Coatings (SPECIFIC) project in 2013, where he currently works as a Research Fellow & runs Swansea University’s XPS facilities. From 2005-2013 he worked in the Surface Science group of Tata Steel RD&T, initially plasma processing and then on the scale of of Dye Sensitised Solar Cells. He obtained his MChem & PhD degrees in Chemistry from the University of Durham (UK). SPECIFIC is a project aiming at the development of affordable technologies that can be manufactured at scale and re-used or recycled at the end of their life & ranges from fundamental materials science to constructing full-scale buildings to demonstrate technologies for generating, storing & releasing renewable energy. James’ research focuses on surface analysis by XPS & on applying the superior data collection capability of modern instruments to improving the underlying manufacturing processes behind photovoltaic device manufacture. He has contributed to 86 research articles with an h-index of 22.

Abstract

Perovskite photovoltaics have rapidly evolved to a 25.8% power conversion efficiency & are couple with exiting much interest due to their commercial scalability. Deposited at low temperatures via solution-based layers, the layers in these devices open many options for printing & coating in large are continuous processes.

However the transition from laboratory spin-coated prototypes to industrial scale coating presents a range of scientific challenges from rheological control to solution & film compatibility. Slot-die coating is a cost-effective roll-to-roll method for coating 2-dimensional patterns, with control of film thickness and low materials wastage. Successfully combining multiple slot-die coated layers is key to the development of successful devices, but each layer relies on tight control and optimisation.

Here we focus on the analyses of the chemistry of these coatings via X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Optimisation of a layer can include optimisation of a number of parameters defined either by the surface, or by very thin (<10 nm) films. In addition, the extension of XPS from single point spectroscopic measurements to rastered mapping over large (cm scale) areas allows chemical images to be generated. Images over larger areas offer unique advantages for understanding consistency and patterning of the coating processes.