Slot-Die Deposition of CuSCN Using Asymmetric Alkyl Sulfides as Cosolvent for Low-Cost and Fully Scalable Perovskite Solar Cell Fabrication

The development of industrially relevant deposition processes for efficient, stable, and inexpensive charge extracting layers is crucial for the commercialization of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). This work demonstrates, for the first time, the deposition of copper thiocyanate (CuSCN) as a low-cost and reliable hole-transport layer using slot-die coating. Methyl ethyl sulfide is thereby used as an asymmetric cosolvent to significantly increase the solubility of CuSCN in the utilized slot-die ink compared to traditional pure diethyl sulfide-based solutions. Optimized CuSCN inks allow for the deposition of CuSCN layers on 5 × 10 cm² substrates with a wide range of thicknesses. Multidimensional imaging photoluminescence techniques are used to investigate the uniformity of the CuSCN thin films deposition as well as the influence of the solvent on charge losses. Finally, the CuSCN slot-die deposition is integrated into a fully upscalable PSC fabrication process showing 19.1% power conversion efficiency for small laboratory cells and 14.7% for 9 cm² minimodules. Furthermore, semitransparent minimodules retain 80% of their initial efficiency after 500 h of constant illumination.