This study presents a method developed to achieve the roll-to-roll sintering of printed Ag patterns based on exposure to hot air, near-infrared, and mid-infrared sources. The sintering energy was quantified and evaluated based on theoretical and experimental calculations. Moreover, the effect of the sintering energy on the web tension was simultaneously considered. / Dieser Beitrag ist aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

Glödlampan, en gång symbolen för mänsklig uppfinningsförmåga, är idag på väg att försvinna. Lysdioder och lågenergilampor har istället tagit över då dessa har betydligt längre livstid och högre effektivitet. Den tidigare så hyllade glödlampan anses numera vara en miljöbov, och förbud och restriktioner mot den blir allt vanligare. Trots detta så är de nya alternativen bara att betrakta som provisoriska steg på vägen mot en ideal ljuskälla, som idag tyvärr inte existerar. Lågenergilampor innehåller exempelvis kvicksilver, och utgör därmed ett direkt hot mot en användares hälsa. Både lysdioder och lågenergilampor består även av höga halter av andra tungmetaller, och är väldigt komplicerade att tillverka. Återvinning är därför ett måste, och en fullödig energibesparingsanalys måste ta hänsyn till den betydande energin som går åt vid tillverkningen. Till viss del kan detta lösas genom att göra komponenterna små och ljusstarka, men för att göra en sådan belysning angenäm används istället utrymmeskrävande och ofta energislukande lampskärmar. Lysdioder och lågenergilampor är helt enkelt bra, men långt ifrån perfekta.All elektronisk utrustning är idag beroende av metaller och inorganiska halvledare, vilket gör återvinning viktig och tillverkning komplicerad. Detta är kanske på väg att ändras då även organiska material, t.ex. plast, har visat sig kunna ha elektroniska egenskaper. Idag är organisk elektronik ett hett forskningsområde där material med liknande egenskaper som plast, fast med funktionella elektroniska egenskaper, undersöks och appliceras. Något som gör organiska material extra intressanta är att många kan lösas upp i vätskor, vilket möjliggör för skapandet av bläck. Detta leder i sin tur till möjligheter för användandet av storskaliga trycktekniker, t.ex. tidningspressar och bläckstråleskrivare, vilka leder till en stor kostnadsreduktion och förenklad tillverkning av lysande komponenter. Idag har plast redan ersatt många andra material i en mängd olika tillämpningar. Plastflaskor är vanligare än glasflaskor, och ylletröjor konkurerar idag med kläder gjorda av fleece och andra syntetiska fibrer. Med ljusemitterande plast finns det helt klart en möjlighet att en liknande utveckling kan ske även för lampor.Den här avhandlingen fokuserar på den fortsatta utvecklingen av den ljusemitterande elektrokemiska cellen (LEC), som 1995 uppfanns av Pei et al. LEC-tekniken använder sig av organiska halvledare för att konvertera elektrisk ström till ljus, men även en elektrolyt som möjliggör elektrokemisk dopning. Detta förbättrar den organiska halvledarens elektroniska egenskaper signifikant, vilket leder till mindre resistans och högre effektivitet hos den färdiga lysande komponenten.Visionen för denna och besläktade tekniker har sedan länge varit förverkligandet av en lysande tapet. Den här avhandlingen har försökt närma sig denna vision genom att visa hur en LEC kan uppnå hög effektivitet och lång livslängd, och samtidigt tillverkas i luft med storskaliga produktionsmetoder. Orsaker till en tidigare begränsad livslängd har identifierats och minimerats med hjälp av nya komponentstrukturer och materialformuleringar. En inkapslingsmetod presenteras också, vilken skyddar komponenten från syre och vatten som annars lätt reagerar med det dopade organiska materialet. Detta resulterar i en signifikant förbättring av livslängden.Genom att använda slot-die bestrykning och sprayning, båda kompatibla med rulle-till-rulle tillverkning, har möjligheter för storskalig produktion demonstrerats. Slutligen har en speciell metod för spraymålning av stora lysande ytor utvecklats. / The incandescent light bulb, once the very symbol for human ingenuity, is now being replaced by the next generation of lighting technologies such as the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and the light emitting diode (LED). The higher efficiencies and longer operational lifetimes of these new sources of illumination have led to the demise of the classic traditional bulb. However, it should be pointed out that the light sources that are taking over are better, but not perfect. The complex high-voltage electronic circuits and health hazardous materials required for their operation make them far from a sustainable eco-friendly option. Their fabrication is also complex, making the final product expensive. A new path forward might be through the use of plastics or other organic materials. Though not traditionally seen as electronically active, some organic materials do behave like inorganic semiconductors and substantial conductivity can be achieved by doping. Since plastics can be easily molded into complex shapes, or made into an ink using a solvent, it is expected that organic materials could revolutionize how we fabricate electronic devices in the future, and possibly replace inorganic crystals in the same way as plastics have replaced glass and wool for food storage and clothes. This thesis has focused on the light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC), which was invented by Pei et al. in 1995. It employs organic semiconductors that can convert electricity to light, but also an electrolyte that further enhances the electronic properties of the semiconductor by allowing it to be electrochemically doped. This allows light-emitting films to be driven by a low-voltage source at a high efficiency. Unfortunately, the electrolyte has been shown to facilitate rapid degradation of the device under operation, which has historically severely limited the operational lifetime. Realizing the predicted high efficiency has also proven difficult. The purpose of this thesis is to bridge the gap between the LEC and the CFL. This is done by demonstrating efficient devices and improved operational lifetimes. Possible degradation mechanisms are identified and minimized using novel device architectures and optimized active layer compositions. An encapsulation method is presented, and shown to increase the LEC stability significantly by protecting it from ambient oxygen and water. The thesis further focuses on up-scaled fabrication under ambient air conditions, proving that light-emitting devices are compatible with solution-based and cost-efficient printing. This is achieved by a roll-to-roll compatible slot-die coating and a novel spray-depositing technique that alleviates problems stemming from dust particles and phase separation. A practical ambient air fabrication and a subsequent operation of light-emitting electrochemical cells with high efficiency are thus shown possible.

Fuel cells are electrochemical energy devices that convert the chemical energy in a fuel into electrical energy. Although they are more efficient, clean, and reliable than fossil fuel combustion systems, they have not been widely adopted because of manufacturing challenges and high production cost. The most expensive component of a fuel cell is the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which consists of an ionomer membrane coated with catalyst material. Best performing MEAs are currently fabricated by depositing and drying liquid catalyst ink on the membrane, however, this process is limited to individual preparation by hand due to the membrane’s rapid water absorption that leads to shape deformation and coating defects. This work models the swelling and drying phenomena of the membrane and coating during manufacturing, and then applies the results to develop and control a continuous coating line for the production of defect free fuel cell MEAs. A continuous coating line can reduce the costs and time needed to fabricate the MEA, incentivizing the commercialization and widespread adoption of fuel cells. Membrane swelling is a three-dimensional, transient, coupled mass transfer, heat transfer, and solid mechanics problem. Existing models describe the membrane’s behavior in operating conditions, but none predict the behavior during manufacturing. This work develops a novel physics-based model that describes the behavior of the membrane and coating in a continuous manufacturing scenario and incorporates effects that are missing from existing models. A model that can predict wrinkles, the most commonly observed defect during manufacturing, is presented. Simulation results from the above models are used to design and develop an improved continuous MEA coating process that includes pre-swelling and two-stage drying of the coated membrane. A prototype pilot-scale coating line to implement and test the improved coating process is designed and constructed. Finally, a Linear-Quadratic-Gaussian type controller is developed using the physics-based model of the manufacturing process to optimally control the temperature and humidity of the drying zones, and its effectiveness when implemented on the coating line is discussed. / text

Graphene is a promising material for flexible electronics due to its extraordinary electrical, mechanical, and optical properties. One of the biggest challenges today is to transfer large-scale graphene sheet to flexible substrates with minimal quality degradation. In this thesis, a bilayer polymer support for graphene transfer is proposed. Liquid PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) is first coated on graphene to conform to its surface morphology. A flexible plastic substrate is then pressed on PDMS as a durable support. After PDMS is cured, electrochemical delamination is used to separate graphene from the copper foil. Due to the extremely low work of adhesion between graphene and PDMS, the graphene film on PDMS can be further transferred onto silicon wafer or other flexible substrates by simple adhesion. An added benefit of the PDMS layer is its strain isolation effect, which could protect graphene-based devices from breaking under external loads applied on the flexible substrate. The strain isolation effect of PDMS is verified with an analytical model and finite element analysis. The design of a prototype roll-to-roll graphene transfer machine is also presented. / text

Flexible electronics have demonstrated potential in a wide range of applications including wearable sensors, photovoltaics, medical devices and more, due to their properties of extreme adaptability while also being lightweight and highly robust. The main challenge standing in the way of progress in this field is the difficulty of large-scale manufacturing of these flexible electronics compared to their rigid counterparts. Microcontact printing is a form of soft lithography in which an elastomeric stamp is used to transfer sub-micron scale surface patterns onto a flexible substrate via ink monolayers. The integration of microcontact printing into a roll-to-roll (R2R) system will enable continuous printing of flexible electronics and scale it up for massive manufacturing. The proposed thesis outlines a novel mechanical design for a microcontact printer which utilizes flexural motion stages with integrated position and force sensors to control the print process on a R2R system. The printhead is designed to fit the available space on the pre-installed UMass Amherst Intelligent Sensing Laboratory test table and breadboard. The R2R system includes motorized rollers for winding/unwinding the PET (polyethylene terephthalate) web substrate, and idler rollers for guiding a web through the print system. As the central element to this design, two matching plate flexures are designed on the two ends of the printer roller to control the tilting and positioning of the print roller. Flexure mechanisms rely on bending and torsion of flexible elements: this allows them to achieve much higher precision in positioning compared to conventional mechanisms which rely on surface interaction between multiple moving parts. The print resolution target for this design is 500 nm (linewidth), based on current state-of-the-art designs [1, 2]. In the initial version of the printhead design, a total of 33 parts are custom fabricated for assembly and installation in the R2R system lab setup. These include everything from the components of the print roller, specially adapted air-bearing mounts, support structures, and connectors. The design and 4 fabrication process for every component is outlined here along with the functionality, as every component was designed with the system objectives and constraints in mind. Using SolidWorks simulation, FEA (finite element analysis) is performed for every part of the assembly that is subjected to stress in the real system, so that predictions can be made about the displacement of the motion stages and the frequency of vibration. These predictions are evaluated by comparation with the experimental results from tests conducted on the real system hardware and used to assess the quality of the fabricated assembly. The work performed in this thesis enables advancements in the assembly of an updated, optimized R2R system and has led to an experimentally functioning lab setup that is ripe for further improvements. Completion and calibration of this augmented R2R system will, in future, enable UMass Amherst in-house production of large-area flexible electronics which may be used in a wide range of applications, including medical sensors, solar cells, displays, and more. In addition to microcontact printing, this R2R system may also be applied to nanoimprint lithography, another contact-based print method, or integrated with inkjet printing, a non-contact method.

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Afin d’obtenir une approche où l’aspect industriel du projet est soutenu par les connaissances académiques et les capacités analytiques du monde de la recherche, ce travail portant sur les cellules photovoltaïques organiques souples grande surface commence par décrire l’énergie photovoltaïque dans son ensemble. Les tenants et aboutissants de son développement sont détaillés, ainsi que ses filières technologiques. Les semi-conducteurs organiques, les mécanismes physiques mis en jeu dans la production d’électricité d’origine photovoltaïque et les grandeurs électriques associées aux cellules photovoltaïques organiques ainsi que les différentes structures de celles-ci sont ensuite présentés. Les dispositifs réalisés dans le cadre de ce travail sur les cellules photovoltaïques organiques sont présentés. Les différentes techniques de dépôt de couches minces, aussi bien celles permettant la production en masse que celles permettant la production à plus petite échelle sont présentées. Cette présentation s’accompagne d’une recherche qui se veut exhaustive des publications relatant l’utilisation des ces techniques d’impression afin de créer des dispositifs photovoltaïques organiques. Une comparaison de ces différentes techniques est menée afin de déterminer les modes de production pertinents. Une étude bibliographique complète menée sur les cellules « grande surface » est présentée. Les cellules et modules réalisés grâce au procédé pilote d’enduction par héliogravure sont ensuite présentés. Le travail réalisé sur un autre procédé, le « doctor blade », est ensuite exposé. Enfin, la problématique du séchage et du recuit des couches minces déposées en continu est posée, et le traitement micro-onde proposé comme solution. / To obtain an approach where the industrial aspect of the project is supported by academic knowledge and the analytical capacities of research, this work concerning the large area flexible organic solar cells begins by describing the photovoltaic energy in general. The ins and outs of its development are detailed, as well as the different technologies involved. The organic semiconductors, the physical mechanisms involved in the photovoltaic electricity production and the physical values attached to the organic solar cells as well as the various structures of these cells are then presented. Devices realized within the framework of this work are then presented. The various techniques of depositing thin layers allowing the mass production as well as those allowing the smaller-scale production are presented. This presentation comes along with an exhaustive research of the publications telling the use of these techniques of printing to create organic photovoltaic devices. A comparison of those various techniques is led to determine the relevant means of production. A complete bibliographical study led on large area organic solar cells is presented. Cells and modules realized thanks to the experimental process of heliogravure coating are then presented. The work realized with another process called doctor blade is then exposed. Finally, the problem of the drying and annealing of the thin layers deposited continuously is raised, and the microwave treatment proposed as a possible solution.

This Master’s thesis work is about the conditions that can affect the identification of defects in lithium-ion batteries. In lithium batteries, there are cathode and anode, which are separated with electrically insulative but ionically conductive electrolytes and separators. The cathode consists of aluminum foil, and the anode consists of copper foil. During the production of the batteries, these foils are being coated with active materials. Unfortunately, some defects such as scratches, misshape, marks, or spots can occur during the coating, and these defects harm the batteries’ performance. To ensure a good performance of the batteries, these defects have to be detected and identified. Today, these defects can be detected with a camera that scans the foils. To detect all the defects, even smaller marks, and dots, a new high-resolution sensor was investigated. The new sensor called Contact Image Sensor that acquires the raw information of the light and converts it into electrical signals was used. In other words, all the objects reflect the light, and the Contact Image Sensor captures the reflected light from the objects. By investigating the light, illumination time, and the contrast of the objects, it is possible to make the defects more visible. Furthermore, this thesis covers the speed of the coated foils passing the sensor. Since the production of the batteries should be time and cost-efficient, the speed can be high, but the sensor should have enough time to scan clear images. In this Master’s thesis work the implications of different sensor resolutions and contrast settings in a roll-to-roll process were studied, considering the speed of the process vs identifying defects (such as scratches and misshapes). It has also been studied if the light conditions, under normal circumstances, have a substantial impact on this trade-off. The result has been promising. Since the sensor has an internal resolution, a limited scanning area, and a scanning frequency, the speed will be limited by a maximum illumination time. But as long as the illumination time is under the maximum, the speed, in this case, does not matter. The maximum illumination time is different for different speeds. Furthermore, the results clearly show that high resolution, maximum allowed illumination time for each speed, and lower speeds, provide the best conditions for finding and identifying defects. However, there comes a price for the illuminated foil. The price is that the bright light can lead to overexposed foil, i.e., the part of the foil without coating will be exposed to too much light. This can create problems if damage to the foil is to be identified. Therefore, a more nuanced light that balances the contrast of the coating part and the foil is recommended. / Det här masterexamensarbetet handlar om förhållanden som påverkar identifieringen av defekter i litiumjonbatterier. Litiumbatterier består av katod och anod som separeras av elektriskt isolerande men joniskt ledande elektrolyt och separatorer. Katoden består av aluminiumfolie och anoden består av kopparfolie. Under tillverkningen av batterierna beläggs dessa folier med aktiva material. Tyvärr uppstår det ibland skador i beläggningen så som repor, missbildning, märke eller fläckar. Dessa defekter försämrar batteriets prestanda. För att säkerställa att batterierna fungerar felfritt måste dessa defekter upptäckas och elimineras. Idag används kamera som skannar folierna för att hitta defekter. För att upptäcka samtliga skador, bland annat mindre märken och fläckar, övervägs en ny högupplöst sensor. En ny sensor, så kallad Contact Image Sensor, som tar in ljuset och omvandlar det till elektriska signaler undersöks. Med andra ord fångar Contact Image Sensor det reflekterade ljuset från objekten. Genom att undersöka ljusets styrka, belysningstiden och kontrast är det möjligt att göra defekterna mer synliga. Vidare omfattar detta examensarbete hastigheten hos de folierna som passerar sensorn. Under en tids- och kostnadseffektiv produktion av batterier kan hastigheter av foljer vara höga, men sensorn måste ha tillräcklig tid och utrymme att skanna tydliga bilder. Påföljden av olika sensorupplösningar och kontrastinställningar i en roll-to-roll-process har därför studerats i detta examensarbete med hänsyn taget till processens hastighet kontra identifieringen av defekter (såsom repor och missbildningar). Det har också studerats om ljusförhållandena har, under normala omständigheter, en väsentlig inverkan på denna avvägning. Resultatet har varit lovande. Med anledning av sensorns interna upplösning, dess begränsade skanningsområdet, samt skanningsfrekvensen, kommer hastigheten att begränsas av en maximal belysningstid. Men så länge belysningstiden är under maximalt kommer hastigheten inte ha någon betydelse. Denna maximala belysningstid är olika för olika hastigheter. Vidare framgår det tydligt i resultatet att hög upplösning, maximal tillåtna belysningstiden för respektive hastighet, och lägre hastigheter, ger bästa förutsättningar för att hitta och identifiera defekter. Dock kommer ett pris för det upplysta beläggningen av foljen. Priset är att det ljusa ljuset kan leda till överexponerade folje, dvs där den delen av foljen som saknar beläggning utsätts för mycket ljus och kan bländas. Detta kan skapa problem om skador på foljen ska identifieras. En mer nyanserad ljus som balanserar kontrasten av beläggningen och foljen kan därför rekommenderas.