KR101112212B1 - Manufacturing method for dye sensitized solar cell and dye sensitized solar cell manufactured by the same - Google Patents

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cell manufacturing method and a dye-sensitized solar cell produced thereby is provided.
Dye-sensitized solar cell according to the present invention comprises the steps of applying a crosslinkable resin on the first substrate; Immersing one surface of the metal mesh layer in the applied crosslinkable resin, and then crosslinking the crosslinkable resin to complete a first electrode; Bonding a second substrate stacked thereon to the first transparent substrate in such a manner that a second electrode is opposed to the first electrode, and the present invention provides the use of a metal mesh layer and a solid electrolyte. This enables a dye-sensitized solar cell in the form of a curved surface. That is, instead of the conductive material laminated on the front surface of the substrate such as ITO, a solid electrolyte capable of more stably supporting and separating the two electrodes of the metal mesh and the dye-sensitized solar cell, which is a kind of conductive network structure, may be a stable material such as nanofibers. By using it as a material, the present invention can more effectively perform physical separation between two electrodes of a dye-sensitized solar cell, thereby achieving electrical stability.

Description

Manufacturing method for dye sensitized solar cell and dye sensitized solar cell manufactured by the same

The present invention relates to a dye-sensitized solar cell manufacturing method and a dye-sensitized solar cell produced thereby, more specifically, a metal mesh and a dye-sensitized solar cell, which is a kind of conductive network structure instead of a conductive material laminated on the front surface of the substrate, such as ITO. By using a solid electrolyte that can support and separate the two electrodes more stably, especially a stable material such as nanofibers, as an electrolyte material, physical separation between two electrode substrates of a dye-sensitized solar cell can be performed more effectively, resulting in electrical stability. It relates to a dye-sensitized solar cell manufacturing method and a dye-sensitized solar cell produced thereby.

Various types of solar cells are disclosed as alternatives to solve problems such as depletion of fossil fuels, environmental pollution, and global warming. A solar cell refers to an electronic device that generates electricity by using a material capable of generating electrons and holes when light is irradiated.

Inorganic solar cells such as silicon are expensive, and the processing and application forms are limited. Therefore, dye-sensitized solar cells are drawing attention as an alternative.

A general dye-sensitized solar cell includes two electrodes (semiconductor and counter electrode) facing each other on a transparent substrate such as glass, a TiO ₂ layer laminated on a semiconductor electrode, a dye adsorbed on the TiO ₂ layer, and the electrode. It is a structure composed of a filling electrolyte layer.

The transparent substrate is a passage through which the current generated from the solar cell module flows, and a transparent material having a low resistance, for example, a transparent material such as indium-tin oxide (ITO) is stacked thereon, and ITO is a dye having high efficiency. In order to implement a sensitive solar cell, it still has a high resistance, and there is a problem in that a manufacturing cost increases due to an increase in the price of urea materials such as indium.

In order to solve this problem, a method of laminating a metal network, that is, a metal mesh, between a transparent substrate and a transparent oxide thin film is disclosed. However, since a conventional metal mesh lamination method is a semiconductor method such as photoresist and etching, the manufacturing process is complicated. There is also a problem that the cost is high.

In addition, the conventional dye-sensitized solar cell is a flat structure comprising a semiconductor electrode, a counter electrode, and an electrolyte therebetween laminated on a flat glass substrate, the form of the dye-sensitized solar cell of the non-flat surface, for example, curved substrate is still It is a situation that can not be used until the start. This is because a curved dye-sensitized solar cell may cause physical contact between two electrodes at the boundary portion of the curved surface, and electrical contact may occur between the two electrodes.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a dye-sensitized solar cell having a curved structure of various forms other than a flat surface, the efficiency is improved.

Another problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a dye-sensitized solar cell having a curved structure rather than a flat surface, the efficiency is improved.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention comprises the steps of applying a crosslinkable resin on the first substrate; Immersing one surface of the metal mesh layer in the applied crosslinkable resin, and then crosslinking the crosslinkable resin to complete a first electrode; Coupling a second substrate stacked thereon to the first transparent substrate in a manner in which a second electrode is opposite to the first electrode, wherein the method comprises applying nanofibers between the first and second electrodes. The method further comprises the step of providing a solid electrolyte containing. The second substrate has a convex curved surface protruding from a central region, and a semiconductor oxide layer including a dye is stacked on one surface of the second substrate opposite to the first electrode, and the crosslinkable resin is a thermal crosslinkable resin or a photocrosslinkable resin. It has transparency after crosslinking.

The solid electrolyte is composed of a nanofiber layer and an electrolyte solution, the nanofibers are placed in an electrospinning manner, and the solid electrolyte prevents physical contact between the first electrode and the second electrode.

In order to solve the another problem, the present invention is a first electrode comprising a metal mesh layer; A second electrode facing the first electrode and having a curved structure; And a solid electrolyte disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode, the solid electrolyte including nanofibers, wherein the second electrode comprises: a transparent substrate; A transparent electrode on the transparent substrate; And a semiconductor oxide layer on which the dye is adsorbed, stacked on the transparent electrode, and a conductive material may be coated on the metal mesh layer.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the line width of the metal mesh layer is 5 to 10㎛, the line thickness is 3 to 50㎛, the metal mesh layer is stainless steel, platinum, gold, silver, chromium, aluminum, copper, iron , Titanium, zirconium, and alloys thereof.

The present invention enables the curved surface dye-sensitized solar cell by using a metal mesh layer and a solid electrolyte. That is, instead of the conductive material laminated on the front surface of the substrate such as ITO, a solid electrolyte capable of more stably supporting and separating the two electrodes of the metal mesh and the dye-sensitized solar cell, which is a kind of conductive network structure, may be a stable material such as nanofibers. By using it as a material, the present invention can more effectively perform physical separation between two electrodes of a dye-sensitized solar cell, thereby achieving electrical stability.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a dye-sensitized solar cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 and 3 are cross-sectional and perspective views of the dye-sensitized solar cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a view showing the structure of the electrospinning apparatus for laminating nanofibers used in one embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the following drawings, examples, etc. are all intended to illustrate the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a dye-sensitized solar cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the dye-sensitized solar cell according to the present invention includes first and second substrates 110 and 120 facing each other, in particular, the second substrate 120 is different from the flat first substrate 110. Non-flat structure, that is, the center portion of the dye-sensitized solar cell module has a curved structure protruding. However, not only the second substrate but also the first substrate may have a curved structure. In addition, the first and second substrates may both be transparent substrates, for example, glass substrates, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

The present invention is directed to a curved dye-sensitized solar cell having different electrode spacings, particularly a dye-sensitized solar cell in which either or both electrodes form a curved surface. According to the present invention, it is possible to achieve an improvement in efficiency, but it is noted that an electrical short problem may occur due to physical contact between the two electrodes in a region where the electrodes are excessively close to each other, particularly in a region where the two substrates are bonded to each other. In order to solve this problem, the present invention uses a metal mesh layer made of a conductive material spaced at predetermined intervals, as an electrode, rather than a transparent electrode such as ITO applied to the entire surface of the substrate, which will be described in more detail below.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a metal mesh 130 is stacked on a first substrate 110, which is one of two substrates, wherein the metal mesh 130 is a conductive network in which a plurality of conductive lines are spaced at predetermined intervals. Refers to the mesh structure forming a, for example, the shape of the metal line to form a lattice structure such as a grid is an example of the metal mesh 130. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and is made of a conductive material, and the metal lines 130 are all included in the metal mesh 130 as long as metal lines having a predetermined width are spaced at regular intervals to form a network connected to each other.

In particular, in order to solve the problem that the conventional process of forming the metal mesh 130 is a semiconductor process requiring complicated and expensive equipment for depositing and patterning a metal layer in an entire region, the substrate ( The metal mesh 130 may be coated on the substrate 110 using a crosslinkable material 131 crosslinked according to a predetermined condition, for example, a thermal crosslinkable resin or a photocrosslinkable resin. ). In one embodiment of the present invention, the type of the crosslinkable resin is not particularly limited, but may be crosslinked at a temperature below the melting point of the metal, for example, any material as long as the glass transition temperature is lower than 150 ° C. and has a transparent characteristic. It may also be used as the crosslinkable resin. In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, polyimide having a glass transition temperature of 350 ° C. having excellent heat resistance and transparent characteristics was used as the crosslinkable resin, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

That is, the metal mesh 130 is cross-linked the crosslinkable resin in a state where one surface is immersed in the crosslinkable resin on a transparent substrate, one side of the metal mesh is immersed and bonded to the crosslinked resin layer 131, and the other surface is Opposite the other electrode layer, and maintains the state to be exposed. In an embodiment of the present invention, 5-10 μm and 3-50 μm were used as the line width and the line thickness of the metal mesh layer 130, respectively, for the reason of suppressing the decrease in light transmittance due to the opacity of the metal mesh layer. In order to minimize problems such as difficulty of joining due to irregularities of the metal mesh layer. In addition, the substrate transmittance of the metal mesh layer is preferably 50 to 90%. This range is to achieve both the effective light transmittance of the substrate and the electron transfer effect by the metal mesh layer. If the substrate transmittance is below 50%, the light itself cannot be transmitted, and conversely, the substrate transmittance exceeds 90%. In this case, the effect of electric conduction is insignificant. In addition, the constituent material of the metal mesh layer 130 may be any one selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, platinum, gold, silver, chromium, aluminum, copper, iron, titanium, zirconium, and alloys thereof.

A counter electrode is stacked on the metal mesh layer 130. A platinum layer may be used as the counter electrode, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Before the counter electrode is stacked, another transparent conductive material, for example, ITO, which may improve electrical conductivity may be stacked on the metal mesh layer 130 to improve electrical conductivity. Whether to stack another transparent conductive material can be freely selected depending on the process, all of which are within the scope of the present invention.

In an embodiment of the present invention, an electrode layer 140 such as ITO is stacked on the curved second substrate 120, and a semiconductor oxide layer, that is, a dye is adsorbed on the transparent electrode layer 140. The semiconductor electrodes 150 having a stacked structure spaced apart from each other at predetermined intervals are formed.

In the above embodiment of the present invention, the metal mesh layer is stacked only on the counter electrode, or vice versa, or the metal mesh layer may be stacked on both the counter electrode and the semiconductor electrode, and the metal mesh layer is immersed in the crosslinkable resin. As long as the metal mesh layer is bonded to the transparent substrate by crosslinking the crosslinkable resin, all of them fall within the scope of the present invention.

The metal mesh layer is particularly capable of preventing physical contact and short between the electrodes of the curved dye-sensitized solar cell, that is, when depositing an electrode material such as ITO on virtually all regions of the substrate as in the prior art, In order to solve this problem, the present invention solves this problem with the above-described configuration which can simultaneously achieve the electrical conduction effect while effectively reducing the actual surface area of the transparent electrode to solve this problem. Solve.

Furthermore, the present invention prevents physical contact between two electrodes, particularly between curved substrate electrodes, between the substrates, i.e., between the two electrodes, through the solid electrolyte, in particular, the nanofiber-shaped solid electrolyte on which the electrolyte is loaded. To provide configuration. That is, the present inventors have different distances between the substrate and the substrate when the substrate having a curved structure is used. In particular, in an environment where physical deformation of the substrate occurs, the distance between the substrate and the substrate is short (for example, between curved substrates). At the boundary point), attention is paid to a problem in which physical contact between the two electrodes and a short problem may occur, thereby providing a solid electrolyte in the form of nanofibers that firmly supports the substrate itself and can effectively support the electrolyte solution.

2 and 3 are cross-sectional and perspective views of the dye-sensitized solar cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 and 3, the dye-sensitized solar cell according to the embodiment of the present invention includes an upper substrate 210 having a curved structure and a lower substrate 220 having a planar structure, and the lower substrate 220 is described above. One metal mesh layer 230 and counter electrode 240 are disclosed. Between the upper substrate 210 and the lower substrate 220 is disclosed a solid electrolyte in the form of nanofibers. That is, the solid electrolyte of the present invention is made of nanofibers 250a, and the nanofibers support the two substrates more firmly than the liquid electrolyte of the prior art. That is, the physical strength of the nanofibers more firmly supports the spaced distance between the upper and lower substrates facing each other, and effectively prevents contact between the electrodes at the portion where the two electrode substrates are bonded.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the solid electrolyte is in a state in which an electrolyte solution is supported on nanofibers, that is, a wet state. That is, when the nanofibers sufficiently loaded with the electrolyte solution are laminated between the two substrates, and the two substrates are bonded to each other, the flexible nanofibers may sufficiently fill the spaces between the two substrates.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, various types of electrolyte passages may be patterned inside the solid electrolyte to facilitate supply and resupply of electrolyte to the nanofibers. For example, in one embodiment of the present invention, the electrolyte passage includes a plurality of unit passages parallel to the length direction of the dye-sensitized solar cell, and the unit passages are connected to each other. That is, when the electrolyte is injected into the external electrolyte inlet, the interconnected electrolyte passages are capable of injecting the electrolyte into the entire module with only a minimum of the electrolyte inlet.

As described above, the curved dye-sensitized solar cell according to the present invention has different internal intervals for each region. In particular, in order to fill the inside of the nanofibers at various heights, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a dye-sensitized solar cell in which a solution-type nanofiber is placed between two electrodes in an electrospinning manner, and then bonded to two substrates. do. That is, when a sufficient amount of nanofiber solution is applied to the first or second substrate and then pressed by bonding the counterpart substrate by physical force, the nanofiber layer can be securely filled and placed between the substrates. It is possible to evenly fill the electrode between the electrodes without electrolyte.

Figure 4 is a view showing the structure of the electrospinning apparatus for laminating nanofibers used in one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the electrospinning device according to the present invention includes a spinning nozzle 401, a collector 402, a transfer roller 403, a substrate 404, and a spinning space 405.

The spinning nozzle 401 serves to continuously supply the spinning solution supplied from the tank (not shown) in which the spinning solution is stored to the spinning space 405, and the collector 402 applies a high voltage of several hundred to several thousand volts to emit the spinning solution. It serves to form a constant electric field in the space 305. When the spinning solution is supplied from the plurality of spinning nozzles 401 in a state in which a high voltage electric field is formed in the spinning space 405, the spinning solution is radiated toward the collector 302 by the high voltage and moved by the feed roller 403. A nanofiber layer is formed on the surface of the substrate 304.

Figure 4 illustrates a bottom-up electrospinning method in which the spinneret is located at the bottom and the collector is at the top, but it is possible to form the nanofiber layer of the present invention by using a top-down electrospinner having reversed positions of the spinneret and the collector. .

The present invention achieves an effective dosing effect of the electrolyte solution with a solid physical separation between the electrode through the nanofiber and the electrolyte passage of the predetermined shape patterned on the nanofiber.

110: first substrate 120: second substrate
130: metal mesh 131: crosslinkable material
140: semiconductor electrode

Claims (11)

Applying a crosslinkable resin on the first substrate;
Immersing one surface of the metal mesh layer of the mesh structure of the conductive network in which a plurality of conductive lines are spaced at predetermined intervals in the applied crosslinkable resin, exposing the other surface, and then crosslinking the crosslinkable resin;
Applying a counter electrode on the metal mesh layer;
Bonding a second substrate having a curved structure to the first substrate, the semiconductor electrodes having a structure in which the dye-adsorbed semiconductor oxide layers are spaced apart at predetermined intervals and stacked thereon; And
And providing a solid electrolyte including nanofibers between the counter electrode and the semiconductor electrode, wherein both ends of the second substrate of the curved structure are coupled to the first substrate, and the solid electrolyte is a semiconductor electrode. Dye-sensitized solar cell manufacturing method, characterized in that to prevent physical contact between the counter electrode. delete delete The method of claim 1,
The crosslinkable resin is a thermal crosslinkable resin or a photocrosslinkable resin, and has a transparent characteristic after crosslinking. The method of claim 4, wherein
The solid electrolyte is made of a nanofiber layer and an electrolyte, the nanofiber is a dye-sensitized solar cell manufacturing method characterized in that it is provided by an electrospinning method. delete A first substrate;
A crosslinkable resin laminated on the first substrate;
A metal mesh layer of a mesh structure forming a conductive network in a state in which one surface is in contact with the crosslinkable resin and the other surface is exposed;
A counter electrode stacked on the metal mesh layer;
A second substrate having a curved structure and having both ends of the curved structure coupled to the first substrate;
A semiconductor electrode stacked on the second substrate and having a structure in which a dye adsorbed semiconductor oxide layer is spaced at a predetermined interval; And
Dye-sensitized solar cell provided between the counter electrode and the semiconductor electrode, comprising a solid electrolyte containing nanofibers. delete delete The method of claim 7, wherein
The line width of the metal mesh layer is 5 to 10㎛, the thickness of the dye-sensitized solar cell, characterized in that 3 to 50㎛. The method of claim 10,
The metal mesh layer is a dye-sensitized solar cell, characterized in that any one selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, platinum, gold, silver, chromium, aluminum, copper, iron, titanium, zirconium, and alloys thereof.

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