Microreactor for High-Yield Solution Deposition of Thin Films and Nanowires

本计画的研究目标是探讨一种新的反应器设计，称为连续流微反应器，以从水基溶液中存款材料。 这种设计将反应器的临界尺寸从传统溶液反应器中使用的厘米级减小到亚毫米级，以提高反应物利用率并减少浪费。 该微型反应器将用于合成半导体和氧化物薄膜以及纳米线阵列，这些对太阳能电池工业很重要。 通过该项目开发的理解有可能降低当前太阳能电池的成本，并实现下一代太阳能电池的设计。 微反应器将用于研究反应机制，并确定限制沉积速率的物理过程。 此外，它还将为光伏和光电器件开发具有最佳功能特性的新材料。连续流微反应器将提高工艺产量，并将废物减少多达十倍，这将显著降低制造成本，并可能对半导体加工行业产生变革性影响。随着薄膜光化学市场的持续增长，低成本的“绿色”沉积方法将变得越来越重要，并且微反应器提供的产率、废物减少和成本方面的优势将是极其有价值的。 除了其工业影响，该项目还将导致研究教育和一名博士生和几名本科生的培训。 高中学生和教师也将通过夏季研究经验参与。

The research objective of this project is to investigate a new reactor design, called a continuous flow microreactor, to deposit materials from water-based solutions. This design reduces the critical dimension of the reactor from the centimeter-scale used in conventional solution reactors to sub-millimeter scale in order to improve reactant utilization and reduce waste. The microreactor will be used to synthesize semiconductor and oxide thin films and nanowire arrays that are important to the solar cell industry. The understanding developed through this project has potential both to reduce the cost of current solar cells and to enable next-generation solar cell designs. The microreactor will be used to investigate reaction mechanisms and to identify the physical processes that limit deposition rates. Additionally, it will enable discovery of new materials with optimal functional properties for photovoltaic and optoelectronic devices.The continuous flow microreactor will improve process yields and reduce waste by up to a factor of ten, which will reduce manufacturing costs significantly and could have transformative impact on the semiconductor processing industry. As the thin film photovoltaics market continues to grow, low-cost "green" deposition methods will become increasingly important, and the advantages in yield, waste reduction, and cost offered by the microreactor will be extremely valuable. In addition to its industrial impact, this project will also result in the research education and training of a PhD student and several undergraduate students. High school students and teachers will also participate through summer research experiences.