IRON PYRITE THIN FILMS FROM MOLECULAR INKS

• Main Authors: WEBER AMANDA S, SEEFELD SEAN, PUTHUSSERY JAMES, LAW MATTHEW
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 17.12.2015
• Subjects: APPLYING LIQUIDS OR OTHER FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL; BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION ORPROCESSING OF GOODS; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ELECTRICITY; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PROCESSES FOR APPLYING LIQUIDS OR OTHER FLUENT MATERIALS TOSURFACES, IN GENERAL; REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGYGENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION; SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINSTCLIMATE CHANGE; TRANSPORTING

Systems and methods are provided for fabricating pyrite thin films from molecular inks. A process is provided that comprises dissolving simple iron-bearing and sulfur-bearing molecules in an appropriate solvent and then depositing the solution onto an appropriate substrate using one of several methods (roll-to-roll coating, spraying, spin coating, etc.), resulting in a solid film consisting of the molecules. These molecular precursor films are then heated to 200-600° C. in the presence of sulfur-bearing gases (e.g., S2, H2S) to convert the molecular films into films of crystalline iron pyrite (FeS2).