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The Impact of Dust Particles on the Function of Screen‐Printed Triple‐Mesoscopic Perovskite Solar Cells
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Carys Worsley,
Rodrigo Garcia Rodriguez,
Tom Dunlop ,
Declan Hughes ,
Kris Seunarine,
Matthew Davies,
Trystan Watson
Small, Start page: e73299
Swansea University Authors:
Kathryn Lacey, Sarah-Jane Dunlop-Potts , Carys Worsley, Rodrigo Garcia Rodriguez, Tom Dunlop , Declan Hughes , Kris Seunarine, Trystan Watson
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© 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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DOI (Published version): 10.1002/smll.73299
Abstract
Screen-printed mesoporous carbon perovskite solar cells (m-CPSCs) offer a low-cost manufacturing approach that could significantly reduce upscaling costs, providing an accessible pathway to green energy production opening new opportunities in countries where this is currently cost-prohibitive. Clean...
| Published in: | Small |
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| ISSN: | 1613-6810 1613-6829 |
| Published: |
Wiley
2026
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71704 |
| Abstract: |
Screen-printed mesoporous carbon perovskite solar cells (m-CPSCs) offer a low-cost manufacturing approach that could significantly reduce upscaling costs, providing an accessible pathway to green energy production opening new opportunities in countries where this is currently cost-prohibitive. Clean rooms represent a very expensive investment and overhead, presenting a significant barrier to reducing production cost. Despite this, very little research has been carried out to determine whether a clean room is essential to PSC manufacture. This study examines how organic dust particle contaminants (1–10 µm) impact screen-printed m-CPSCs. Unexpectedly, cells with contamination between layers showed no significant difference in PCE compared to pristine controls. Dust in pastes affected print quality more severely, negatively impacting the quality of subsequent layers and leading to inconsistencies in print quality, compounding problems further along in the manufacturing process if screens and pastes are not kept free from such contamination. These findings suggest that screen-printed solar cells can be produced outside of clean rooms if high cleanliness standards are maintained during storage and print runs. This outcome is significant for low-cost PSC printing, indicating that it may be possible to produce high performing modules in industrial setups without expensive clean room installation and management. |
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| Keywords: |
carbon, cleanroom, dust, mesoporous, perovskite, screen printing |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Funders: |
This work was made possible by funding from the STRIP5 project funded by EPSRC Prosperity Partnership [EP/X025217/1]. Additional support was received from the SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council Program Grant ATIP (Application Targeted and Integrated Photovoltaics) [EP/T028513/1], and from the UK Government's Ayrton Challenge through the International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF) as part of the REACH-PSM project (UKRI319), in addition to the Advanced Imaging of Materials (AIM) facility at Swansea University, which was funded in part by the EPSRC [EP/M028267/1]. |
| Start Page: |
e73299 |