Modeling and Fundamental Dynamics of Vacuum, Gas, and Antisolvent Quenching for Scalable Perovskite Processes

• Published in: Advanced science Vol. 11; no. 14; pp. e2308901 - n/a
• Main Authors: Ternes, Simon, Laufer, Felix, Paetzold, Ulrich W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.04.2024; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: antisolvent quenching; Crystallization; crystallization gas quenching; Market entry; Morphology; Open source software; perovskite; photovoltaics; Public domain; Reproducibility; Solvents; supersaturation; Thin films; vacuum quenching; crystallization gas quenching; perovskite; supersaturation; antisolvent quenching; photovoltaics; vacuum quenching
• ISSN: 2198-3844; 2198-3844
• DOI: 10.1002/advs.202308901

Hybrid perovskite photovoltaics (PVs) promise cost‐effective fabrication with large‐scale solution‐based manufacturing processes as well as high power conversion efficiencies. Almost all of today's high‐performance solution‐processed perovskite absorber films rely on so‐called quenching techniques that rapidly increase supersaturation to induce a prompt crystallization. However, to date, there are no metrics for comparing results obtained with different quenching methods. In response, the first quantitative modeling framework for gas quenching, anti‐solvent quenching, and vacuum quenching is developed herein. Based on dynamic thickness measurements in a vacuum chamber, previous works on drying dynamics, and commonly known material properties, a detailed analysis of mass transfer dynamics is performed for each quenching technique. The derived models are delivered along with an open‐source software framework that is modular and extensible. Thereby, a deep understanding of the impact of each process parameter on mass transfer dynamics is provided. Moreover, the supersaturation rate at critical concentration is proposed as a decisive benchmark of quenching effectiveness, yielding ≈ 10−3 − 10−1s−1 for vacuum quenching, ≈ 10−5 − 10−3s−1 for static gas quenching, ≈ 10−2 − 100s−1 for dynamic gas quenching and ≈ 102s−1 for antisolvent quenching. This benchmark fosters transferability and scalability of hybrid perovskite fabrication, transforming the “art of device making” to well‐defined process engineering. Perovskite photovoltaics are very popular due to their excellent properties for commercial tandem photovoltaic applications. When printing these photovoltaics, quenching processes are pivotal for fabricating high‐quality absorber layers. This work presents the first open‐source software for quantitative modeling of mass transfer dynamics and determination of supersaturation rates in vacuum, gas, and antisolvent quenching–enabling a reproducible and scalable perovskite fabrication.