This report contains the development and construction of a new patented doctor blade. A doctor blade is used when creping soft paper from a large rotating Yankee cylinder. At the current state the doctor blade are in use for four to six hours before it needs to be switch due to wearing, stopping the production of soft paper. The new idea is to have a very long and small blade that will slide into a fixed blade and be continuously pulled when creping paper. The company CS Production had a concept of the fixed blade but wanted to further develop it since the blade was too wide.   Measurements where done with the old blade and with the old testing device to measure the pull force required to pull the blade. New concepts where made by the method of brainstorming and evaluated with an elimination matrix. Rivet joints where selected as the joining technique for the new design. The new concept contains one dominant blade that smaller parts were assembled to form the final blade. The material selected for the dominant blade and the section blade was a cold rolled stainless spring steel strip and for the middle disc the material was aluminum bronze string casted. Test on the pull force required where done with the new doctor blade in the new test rig.  FEM simulation where done on a small part of the blade to see where stresses are occurring in the blade. The FEM result showed that no stresses where on the middle discs, rivets or section blades. This is not reliable results because the small doctor blade is pushing down onto the middle discs and stresses should be occurring on the discs.  Further testing is needed to see if the blade can withstand the forces applied to it.

This thesis project is about designing and developing an already existing testing device for a new invented Doctor Blade. A doctor blade is a blade used for creping tissue paper of a rotating cylinder, Yankee Cylinder. The old testing device was incomplete in a way that a rotating cylinder was missing, hence the tested blade is not loaded properly. The old testing device already contained the doctor blade holding device and the pulling device (pulling the creping blade). These two devices are transferred to the new testing device without any redesign within them. The adding of a rotating cylinder/roller required some new redesign regarding the testing device. The main beam (beam carrying all elements) is replaced with a larger one in order to fit the roller and is elongated in order to run longer tests. The new beam has a larger cross section in order to minimize the risk of bending. The main beam is supplied with five small beams, welded onto it, three for attaching the holding device and two for attaching the roller. The dimensions of these small beams are chosen in order to put the roller on the right position according to the creping blade. An electric motor is added to the new testing device in order to drive the roller with a chain. This required two sprockets, one for the motor and one for the roller shaft. The sprockets are chosen with a pitch diameter ratio matching the gearing required. FMEA-analysis is done on the whole design where five failure modes were chosen to be included, bending of the main beam and motor beam, screw joints of the same beams and sprocket-chain mechanism. Some FEM-analysis was required in order to detect the bending of the beams and measuring the loading on the screw joints. The screw joint loading achieved from the FEM-analysis is used for the theoretical screw joint calculations. The FMEA-analysis implied that four of the analyzed failure modes have acceptably low risk factor and dos not require any further actions. However one received a high risk factor, the chain-sprocket mechanism, the risk of clamping fingers. This is solved by adding a protecting house/shell made of sheet metal. Measurements were done on the old and the new testing device regarding the required force for pulling the creping blade and the pressure distribution between the creping blade and the beam (and roller in the new testing device). The improvement of the pulling force values is rather due to the new designed doctor blade than due to the new testing device. The new testing device is however more appropriate than the old one hence the added roller and the tests shows that it is functional as well. / Projektet handlar om design och utveckling av en redan existerande testrigg för ett nyuppfunnet kräppningsblad. Ett kräppningsblad är det bladet som just kräpper av papper från en roterande cylinder, s.k. Yankee Cylinder. Den gamla testriggen var inte komplett och saknade en roterande cylinder, därav kräppningsbladet belastades inte ordentligt. Den gamla testriggen innehöll redan en hållaranordning för kräppningsbladet och en dragstation (som drar kräppningsbladet). Dessa två delar förflyttades till den nya testriggen utan några korrigeringar. Tillägget av en roterande cylinder/vals krävde ny design för den nya testriggen. Huvudbalken (balken som bar alla delar) ersattes av en större balk för att den nya valsen ska få plats. Nya balken är även längre i syfte att kunna köra längre tester. Tvärsnittsarean hos den nya balken är större i syfte att minimera risken för böjning. Fem små balkar är fastsvetsade i den nya huvudbalken, tre för fästning av hållaranordningen och två för fästning av valsen. Placeringen av dessa fem balkar valdes i syfte att placera valsen i rätt position enligt kräppningsbladet. En elektrisk motor tillfördes till den nya testriggen i syfte att driva valsen med en kedja. Detta krävde två nya kugghjul, en för motorn och en för valsaxeln. Delningsdiametern för de två kugghjulen valdes med en viss kvot som motsvarar den utväxlingen som krävs. FMEA-analys utfördes på hela testriggen dör fem olika haveriorsaker inkluderades, böjning av huvudbalken och motorbalken, skruvförbanden på dessa två balkar och till sist kugghjul-kedja mekanismen. FEM-analys krävdes för beräkningar av böjningen på balkarne och för belastningen på skruvförbanden. Belastningen på skruvförbanden uppnåd från FEM-analysen användes senare i de teoretiska beräkningarna av skruvförbanden. FMEA-analysen angav att fyra av de fem analyserade haveriorsakerna har accepterad låg riskfaktor och kräver inga åtgärder. Dock så visade det sig att en haveriorsak fick en för hög risk faktor, kugghjul-kedja mekanismen, risken att klämma fingrar.Detta problem löstes med hjälp av att designa ett skyddshus /skal av plåt. Mätningar gjordes på den gamla och den nya testriggen på dragkrafter och tryckfördelning mellan kräppningsblad och balk (vals i den nya testriggen). Förbättringen av värden på dragkrafterna beror mer av det nydesignade kräppningsbladet än av den nya testriggen. Hursomhelst är den nya testriggen lämpligare än den gamla med tanke på tillförseln av valsen och dessutom så visar testerna att den är funktionell.

Les cellules solaires organiques ont longtemps été qualifiées de cellules solaires« polymères ». Cette appellation découle du fait que la couche active de telles cellules solaires a majoritairement été réalisée avec un polymère donneur d’électrons. L’utilisation d’un polymère au sein de la couche active a permis d’envisager la production de cellules solaires organiques par voie liquide avec des procédés d’impression à grande vitesse. Il existe cependant un autre type de matériau donneur d’électrons : les petites molécules. Ces dernières déposées par évaporation thermique permettent d’obtenir des cellules à haut rendement. A cause de leur faible propriété filmogène, les petites molécules n’ont cependant pas été envisagées pour un procédé d’impression industrielle. Or, en 2012 plusieurs petites molécules déposables par voie liquide font leur apparition et permettent d’obtenir des rendements suffisamment élevés à l’échelle laboratoire, pour envisager leur à l’échelle industrielle. Ces travaux de thèse ont été conduits en collaboration avec ARMOR, une entreprise visant à commercialiser les cellules solaires organiques, dans le but d’évaluer le potentiel d’industrialisation des petites molécules donneuses d’électrons. Le p-DTS(FBTTh2)2 a été choisi pour cette étude. Il a été montré qu’il était possible d’atteindre des rendements de 2% avec ce matériau à l’air, avec des solvants non toxiques en utilisant un procédé d’enduction à racle. L’industrialisation du p-DTS(FBTTh2)2 n’a cependant pas été poursuivie car ce dernier est très instable à l’air. Ces travaux présentent une méthodologie pouvant être utilisée pour évaluer l’industrialisation d’autres matériaux de ce type. / Organic solar cells are often called “polymer” solar cells. This term comes from the fact that the active layer of such solar cells have been widely made with a donor polymer. The use of polymer inthe active layer gives interesting filming properties that can be used to produce these solar cells industrially with a high speed printing process. Yet, another type of donor materials exists: the small molecules. Deposited by thermal evaporation, this type of materials can allow to reach high efficiency solar cells. Because of their poor filming properties, small molecules were not a good candidate for an industrialization using high speed printing. However, in 2012 several solution processable small molecules were proven particularly promising by demonstrating high efficiency at a laboratory scale.These encouraging results let imagine that it could be possible to produce organic solar cells with such materials. This PhD work has been done in collaboration with ARMOR, a company highly implied in the commercialization of organic solar cells, in order to evaluate if small molecules materials could be use dindustrially with a high speed printing process. The p-DTS(FBTTh2)2 has been chosen for this study. It has been shown that it is possible to reach efficiencies as high as 2 % with such a material, using non toxicsolvents and by making the solar cell in the air with a Doctor Blade. Nevertheless, the industrialization ofthe p-DTS(FBTTh2)2 has not been pursued due to the rapid degradation of this molecule in the air. This work presents a method that can be used to evaluate the industrialization of other efficient small molecules.

Inom mjukpappersindustrin är det viktigt att utvecklas och upprätthålla en så bra kvalité som möjligt på produkterna för att hålla sig kvar på marknaden. Det är därför betydelsefullt att ha kunskap kring tillverkningsprocessens alla steg och hur de påverkar det slutgiltiga resultatet. En viktig del av tillverkningen är kräppningsprocessen som till stor del ger papperet sina egenskaper och kvalité. Det är i detta steg av tillverkningen som strukturen på papperet bestäms. Detta gör att ett stort fokus ligger på att förstå och utveckla kräppningsprocessen.  Denna rapport görs i samarbete med en mjukpapperstillverkare som under den senaste tiden upptäckt en större efterfrågan hos kunder att vara med och styra inställningarna av kräppschabern. Då det råder en bristande kunskap om hur olika faktorer påverkar kräppningen har en osäkerhet uppstått. Syftet med denna rapport är att bidra med den kunskap som krävs kring kräppningsprocessen och klingegenskaperna för att företaget ska ha möjlighet att tillfredsställa kundernas efterfrågan och behov.  I kräppningsprocessen är kräppschabern den viktigaste komponenten att granska då det är denna klinga som utför själva kräppningen. De mest relevanta faktorerna för kräppschaberns inställning väljs ut för att undersökas i denna rapport. Analysen av parametrarna utförs genom att variera en parameter i taget för att sedan kontrollera hur böjningen av kräppschabern ser ut. Med hjälp av utböjningen av klingan kan sedan en kräppvinkel beräknas för att slutligen få fram förhållandet mellan de utvalda parametrarna och kräppvinklen. Detta kommer utföras med hjälp av tre olika metoder vars resultat sedan jämförs med varandra för att fastställa de beräknade förhållandena. De olika metoderna som används är en analytisk beräkning som baseras på den elastiska linjens ekvation samt två undersökningar i FEM-program där klinggeometrin modelleras.   Plottar utformas med värden från de olika undersökningarna som grund. Ett diagram för varje parameter skapas, diagrammen visar hur kräppvinkeln ändras då parametern varierar inom de utvalda intervallen. Alla parametrar som undersökts visade sig påverka kräppvinkeln på en nivå som gör de relevanta för inställningen av kräppschabern då en önskad kvalité är efterfrågad. Efter en jämförelse mellan resultaten från de olika metoderna kunde vissa avvikelser hittas. Dessa avvikelser är dock inte stora och kan därför försummas. Det finns många tänkbara anledningar till avvikelserna som t.ex. olika antaganden och beräkningsmässiga skillnader. Slutsatserna som kan göras av denna rapport är att alla de parametrar som undersöktes har en betydande roll för kräppvinklens minskning och att de olika beräkningssätten gav överensstämmande resultat. I framtida undersökningar kan därför den smidigaste av de undersökta metoderna rekommenderas. / In the tissue industry, it is important to develop and maintain as good a quality as possible on the products in order to stay on the market. It is therefore important to have knowledge of all the steps of the manufacturing process and how they affect the final result. An important part of the production is the creping process, which largely gives the paper its properties and quality. It is in this stage of manufacturing process that the structure of the paper is determined. This means that a great focus is to understand and develop the creping process.   This report is made in collaboration with a tissue manufacturer who recently discovered a greater demand from customers to participate in and control the settings in their projects. Since there is a lack of knowledge of how different factors affect the creping, uncertainty has arisen. The purpose of this report is to contribute with the knowledge required about the creping process in order to reduce uncertainty in the company and satisfy the customers' demand and needs. In the creping process, creping blade is the most important component to examine as it is this blade that performs the creping itself.   The most relevant factors for the creping blades settings are selected to be examined in this report. The analysis of the parameters is performed by varying one parameter at a time and then checking how the bending of the creping blade looks. With the deflection of the blade, a crepe angle can be calculated in order to highlight the relationship between the chosen parameters and the crepe angle. This will be accomplished by using three different methods, the results of which are then compared with each other to determine the calculated conditions. The different methods who are used is an analytical calculation based on the linear elasticity equation and two studies in FEM programs where the blade geometry is modeled.   Plots are designed, displaying values ​​from the different analysis’s as a basis. A chart for each parameter is created, the charts show how the crepe angle changes as the parameter varies within the selected intervals. All parameters examined were found to affect the crepe angle more or less, but all at a level that makes them relevant to the setting of the creping blade as a certain desired quality is required. After a comparison of the results from the different methods, some deviations could be found. However, these deviations are not significant and may therefore be ignored. There are many possible reasons for these deviations such as e.g. various presumptions and computational differences. The conclusions that can be made about this report are that all the parameters that were examined have a significant role in the reduction of the crepe angle and that the results from the various methods gave consistent results. In future investigations, therefore, the most convenient of the methods tested may be recommended.

This thesis investigates novel hole extraction interfaces and series interconnects for applications in organic photovoltaics, specifically in single junction solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and tandem DSSC/polymer bulk heterojunction solar cells. Improvements in hole extraction and device performance by using materials compatible with scalable deposition methods are presented, including tungsten- and molybdenum-disulphide (WS₂ and MoS₂), and p-type doped spiro-OMeTAD (2,2',7,7'-tetrakis-(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)9,9'-spirobifluorene) nanoparticle dispersions. WS₂ and MoS₂ hole extraction layers increase averaged short circuit currents by 20% and 16% respectively, and power conversion efficiencies by 19% and 14% respectively when compared with control devices. Similarly, doped spiro-OMeTAD nano-particle layers improved short circuit current densities by 32% and efficiencies by 9%. Tandem device interconnects using these novel hole extraction formats have been fabricated, but although devices did exhibit rectification, overall performance was poor. Possible reasons for their limited success have been analysed. Dye-sensitized solar mini-modules are also reported. In order to assure the scalability of DSSC technology, these larger area devices were constructed using doctor blade coating to deposit the hole transporter material. As well as achieving a respectable maximum power conversion efficiency of 2.6%, it has also been shown that the extent to which hole transporter infiltrates the mesoporous photoanode of these devices may be tuned by altering substrate temperature during deposition. It was found that an optimal coating temperature of 70 degrees C produced the best efficiency, with a corresponding pore-filling fraction of 41%.

Ce travail de thèse porte sur l'étalement de fluides complexes. Il met en évidence la riche phénoménologie d'un acte simple : celui d'étaler avec un racloir (rigide ou souple) une émulsion ou une solution de polymères sur un substrat. Pour chacun des fluides modèles étudiés, nous nous sommes focalisés expérimentalement sur l'observation de l'écoulement au cours de l'entraînement de la solution. Dans des conditions données d'étalement, il apparaît qu'une émulsion o/w peut s'inverser via plusieurs mécanismes de déstabilisation, ou encore, dans le cas d'une solution de polymères, exhiber une instabilité de sa ligne de contact, donnant naissance à des filaments de tailles et de longueurs d'ondes spécifiques. Nous montrons que les différents paramètres d'étalement, comme par exemple la hauteur du racloir, la vitesse d'étalement, les propriétés du substrat ou encore la rhéologie des solutions, doivent être pris en compte pour construire des diagrammes de phase d'étalement séparant les domaines d'existence des instabilités observées (régime de recouvrement partiel), des domaines où la solution transite vers le recouvrement total du substrat. D'autre part, nous tirons l'avantage de ces instabilités pour nous permettre de déposer de façon contrôlée des structures variées, offrant d'intéressantes perspectives en termes d'applications. / This study shows the rich phenomenology of a simple act : spreading complex solutions such as emulsion and polymer solution on a plate, by using a rigid and flexible blade respectively. Here, we experimentally study the flow of the solution over the course of its spreading. During the spreading and in certain conditions, different phenomena occur, namely, emulsion inversion in the case of o/w emulsion or a contact line instability in the case of the polymer solution, which gives rise to the formation of polymer filaments with a well-defined wavelength and characteristic sizes. We showed, thanks to spreading phase diagrams, that the the existence of the instability (partial wetting regime) is separated to a domain where the solution cover the substrate. Spreading parameters such as the height of the scraper, spreading velocity or properties of the fluids turns out to be crucial. Finally, we take advantage of the instabilities to print a variety of interesting patterns for further applications.

Photoelectrodes and photovoltaic devices have been prepared via multiple thin film deposition methods. Aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD), electrodeposition (ED), chemical bath deposition (CBD) and doctor blade technique (DB) have been used to deposit binary and ternary metal oxide films on FTO glass substrates. The prepared thin films were characterised by a combination of SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), powder X-ray diffraction, mechanical strength tests and photochemical measurements. Nickel oxide (NiO) thin films prepared by AACVD were determined to have good mechanical strength . with a photocurrent of 7.6 μA cm-2 at 0 V and an onset potential of about 0.10 V. This contrasted with the dark current density of 0.3 μA cm-2 at 0 V. These NiO samples have very high porosity with crystalline columns evidenced by SEM. In comparison with the AACVD methodology, NiO films prepared using a combination of ED and DB show good mechanical strength but a higher photocurrent of 24 μA cm-2 at 0 V and an onset potential of about 0.10 V with a significantly greater dark current density of 7 μA cm-2 at 0 V. The characteristic features shown in the SEM are smaller pores compared to the AACVD method. Copper (II) oxide (CuO) and copper (I) oxide (Cu2O) films were fabricated by AACVD by varying the annealing temperature between 100-325°C in air using a fixed annealing time of 30 min. It was shown by photocurrent density (J-V) measurements that CuO produced at 325 °C was most stable and provided the highest photocurrent of 173 μA cm-2 at 0 V with an onset potential of about 0.23 V. The alignment of zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-rods and nano-tubes fabricated by CBD have been shown to be strongly affected by the seed layer on the FTO substrate. SEM images showed that AACVD provided the best seed layer for aligning the growth of the nano-rods perpendicular to the surface. Nano-rods were successfully altered into nano-tubes using a potassium chloride bath etching method. NiO prepared by both AACVD and the combined ED/DB method were sensitized to absorb more of the solar spectrum using AACVD to deposit CuO over the NiO. A large increase in the photocurrent was observed for the p-type photoelectrode. These p-type photoelectrode showed a photocurrent density of approximately 100 μA cm-2 at 0 V and an onset potential of 0.3 V. This photocathode was then used as a base to produce a solid state p-type solar cell. For the construction of the solid state solar cells several n-type semiconductors were used, these were ZnO, WO3 and BiVO4. WO3 and BiVO4 were successfully produced with BiVO4 proving to be the optimum choice. This cell was then studied more in depth and optimised by controlling the thickness of each layer and annealing temperatures. The best solid state solar cell produced had a Jsc of 0.541 μA cm-2 (541 nA) and a Voc of 0.14 V, TX146 made up of NiO 20 min, CuFe2O4 50 min, CuO 10 min, BiVO4 27 min, using AACVD and then annealed for 30 min at 600°C.