{"id":43624,"date":"2026-10-25T15:55:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T19:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/?p=43624"},"modified":"2026-10-25T15:55:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T19:55:19","slug":"chinese-engineers-epoxy-printable-solar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/chinese-engineers-epoxy-printable-solar\/43624\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese engineers added slow-curing epoxy to printable solar ink and achieved 21.07% certified efficiency on a paper-sized panel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Material scientists in China have developed a slow-curing epoxy<\/strong> that gets applied to perovskite ink material.<\/p>\n

Solvent-based solar cells usually form pinholes and feature uneven grain formation due to fast solvent evaporation over large surfaces.<\/p>\n

By using a controlled cross-linking agent<\/strong> within the liquid semiconductor ink, one would be able to control the polymerization that takes place when the solvent is stripped off.<\/p>\n

This novel method helps reduce internal electricity traps and demonstrated a certified efficiency of 21.07 percent within the paper-sized panel test under laboratory conditions.<\/p>\n

Controlling fast solvent evaporation in printable photovoltaic inks<\/h2>\n

Perovskite ink-based solar panels transition from liquids to solids<\/strong> during the rapid evaporation of the solvents used.<\/p>\n

High-speed solvent evaporation generally results in a random crystal growth and the formation of sharp interfaces that tend to trap mobile electrical charge carriers.<\/p>\n

The scientists incorporated an epoxy resin with a low polymerization rate<\/strong> in the precursor liquid solution.<\/p>\n

The epoxy molecules create a transient support matrix that slows down crystallization in the solution layer.<\/p>\n

Polymerization control keeps crystals from clumping while the ink is distributed evenly over the smooth surface of the substrate<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Controlling the viscosity of the solution allows the even distribution of chemicals before the formation of the crystalline semiconductor layer.<\/p>\n

Creating uniform crystal structures by controlled polymerization<\/h2>\n

The cross-linking reactions cause the ion precursors to align precisely<\/strong> to form dense perovskite crystal grains.<\/p>\n

High-order crystals do not contain the small voids through which electrical charges normally dissipate as wasted heat energy.<\/p>\n

No defects were detected<\/strong> in the lab.<\/p>\n

Epoxies attached firmly to the exposed lead and halide ions on crystal interface boundaries.<\/p>\n

Sealing the small void gaps does not prevent moisture intrusion<\/strong>, however.<\/p>\n

The formation of defect-free interfaces provides electronic pathways for directing the electrical power<\/a> to the collection grid electrodes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Scaling up printable perovskite inks to paper-scale experimental solar panels<\/h2>\n

Smaller lab-scale spin-coated cells demonstrate excellent conversion efficiencies<\/strong>, but increasing scale-up during manufacturing results in drastic drops in performance.<\/p>\n

Engineers applied the solar ink-based polymer to paper-sized substrates via an automated blade-coating system.<\/p>\n

A controlled curing process avoided the inconsistent crystallization<\/strong> that commonly occurs during the wide-area deposition process on flexible substrates.<\/p>\n

Blade-coated test panels provided stable optoelectronic characteristics across the entire active semiconductor surface area.<\/p>\n

Laboratory tests showed that peak power conversion efficiency<\/a> reached 21.07 percent across the scaled panels<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Coating the larger surfaces might result in slight deviations in thickness, which do not result in the same levels of high efficiency as the smaller cell panels.<\/p>\n

Evaluating industry manufacturing barriers to commercial solar panels<\/h2>\n

Laboratory tests show that step-growth polymerization suits paper-sized samples; however, commercial manufacturing will require faster roll-to-roll equipment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It is vital to ensure the correct control of thermal and environmental conditions across a larger section of coating to prevent inconsistencies appearing on the edges of much larger panels.<\/p>\n

The cost of the chemicals used for the synthesis of special epoxy additives is much higher compared to commercial precursors<\/strong> used for silicon current technologies.<\/p>\n

There is a need to optimize the production line to prove that stability may be achieved under prolonged exposure to outdoor conditions.<\/p>\n

It is essential if the technology is to be implemented on an industrial scale<\/strong>, since the technology itself is useless if it is not durable over years.<\/p>\n

The move from laboratory testing to commercial application is the next major industrial achievement to strive for in the development of printable semiconductor inks.<\/p>\n

However, there is still much work to be done<\/strong> before this happens.<\/p>\n

The commercial success of the innovative Chinese<\/a> solar ink depends on whether chemical suppliers will be able to reduce the costs of polymer synthesis.<\/p>\n

The full study can be found here: Zhang, W., Wang, Z., Zhou, H. et al. Stepwise polymerization enables tailored perovskite ink for scalable flexible perovskite solar cells. Nat Commun<\/em> 17, 10858 (2026). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-026-77703-w<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Material scientists in China have developed a slow-curing epoxy that gets applied to perovskite ink material. Solvent-based solar cells usually form pinholes and feature uneven grain formation due to fast solvent evaporation over large surfaces. By using a controlled cross-linking agent within the liquid semiconductor ink, one would be able to control the polymerization that … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":43630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"solar","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"Chinese engineers added slow-curing epoxy to printable solar ink and achieved 21.07% certified efficiency on a paper-sized panel, and it is a bold innovation.","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43624"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43717,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43624\/revisions\/43717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}