STTR Phase I: Spray-On Nanostructured Metal Oxide Films for Efficient Solar Energy Conversion

STTR 第一阶段：喷涂纳米结构金属氧化物薄膜，实现高效太阳能转换

• 批准号: 0930144
• 负责人: T. Danny Xiao
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: INFRAMAT CORP
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-07-01 至 2010-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0930144&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: STTR; Phase; Spray; Nanostructured; Metal

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Small Business Technology Transfer Research Phase I project exploits Inframat's revolutionary solution plasma spray process to fabricate nanostructured dendritic oxide films for low cost photovoltaic solar energy or solar/water hydrogen splitting device applications. High surface area metal oxide films are crucial device elements for next generation energy conversion. While much fundamental work has been conducted to demonstrate feasibility and build prototypes, little progress has been made towards addressing the cost and reliability of efficient, high rate manufacturing processes for these devices. Our process, developed through collaboration between Inframat and UMass, involves the deposition of oxide films via the introduction of a fine aerosol produced by the rapid expansion of precursor solutions saturated with a compressible solvent into a plasma spray gun. Our feasibility experiments indicate that the process yields open, highly porous networks of dendritic oxide nanostructures directly, without subsequent casting or annealing steps. The intellectual merit includes the development of a deposition technology for pure/doped nanofilms that offers well controlled architectures and the establishment of the relationships between deposition conditions, precursor reactivity and film properties. Performance comparison of solar cells constructed using these materials to baseline devices of traditional film approaches will provide additional understanding of structure-property relationships. The broader impact includes validation of an inexpensive, manufacturable, spray on route to nanostructured metal oxide films that could significantly reduce the cost of solar cells and H2 generation. The technology is applicable to other devices, including sensors and batteries. The anticipated benefits/potential commercial applications include robust processing, high quality and performance, and economical affordability for next generation energy conversion devices. The spray on nature of SPS processing allows us to target the low cost, large area segment of the market, which is currently underrepresented due in part to high manufacturing costs relative to efficiency. The ability to tune film structure and crystallinity at the nanoscale offers enabling gains in device performance and efficiency. The customers include both large and small companies in the solar energy space, including those with a concentrated focus on dye-sensitized and flexible solar cells.

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(Public Law 111-5)资助的。这个小型企业技术转移研究第一阶段项目利用Infrmat革命性的解决方案等离子喷涂工艺来制备纳米结构树枝状氧化物薄膜，用于低成本光伏太阳能或太阳能/水氢分离设备应用。高比表面积金属氧化物薄膜是下一代能量转换的关键器件。虽然已经进行了许多基础性工作来证明可行性和建立原型，但在解决这些设备的高效、高生产率制造工艺的成本和可靠性方面进展甚微。我们的工艺是由Infrmat和UMASS合作开发的，包括通过引入精细的气雾剂沉积氧化膜，这种气雾剂是通过将饱和了可压缩溶剂的前体溶液快速膨胀到等离子喷枪中产生的。我们的可行性实验表明，该工艺直接产生开放的、高度多孔的树枝状氧化物纳米结构网络，而不需要后续的铸造或退火步骤。智能优点包括开发纯/掺杂纳米薄膜的沉积技术，提供良好控制的结构，以及建立沉积条件、前驱体反应性和薄膜性能之间的关系。将使用这些材料构建的太阳能电池的性能与传统薄膜方法的基准器件进行比较，将有助于进一步了解结构与性能之间的关系。更广泛的影响包括验证一种廉价、可制造的喷雾用于纳米结构金属氧化物薄膜的路线，这可以显著降低太阳能电池和制氢的成本。这项技术也适用于其他设备，包括传感器和电池。预期的好处/潜在的商业应用包括强大的加工、高质量和高性能，以及下一代能源转换设备的经济实惠。SPS加工的喷雾性质使我们能够瞄准低成本、大面积的细分市场，目前这一细分市场的代表性不足，部分原因是制造成本相对于效率较高。在纳米尺度上调节薄膜结构和结晶度的能力提供了设备性能和效率的提升。客户包括太阳能领域的大小公司，包括那些专注于染料敏化和柔性太阳能电池的公司。