DataVXACS Energy LettersPaper
journal article·2026-01-09Open access

Flash-Infrared-Annealing-Enabled High-Temperature Sintering of Photoanodes on Flexible Polymer Foils for Ultralight Photovoltaics

David Bradford, Iacopo Benesperi, Hiroaki Jinno, Naveen Bhati, Roberto Avilés-Betanzos, François Maréchal, Gerko Oskam, Chih-Jen Shih, Michael Grätzel, Sandy Sánchez, Kevin Sivula, Marina Freitag

ACS Energy Letters· Volume 11· Issue 1
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Abstract

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Ultralight photovoltaics are indispensable wherever every gram counts, from self-powered Internet of Things nodes to free-hanging greenhouse covers. In dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) the required 450–500 °C sintering of the mesoporous TiO 2 (m-TiO 2 ) photoanode has so far limited the use of polymer substrates. Here, we replace the furnace step with flash infrared annealing. Near-IR radiation heats the 3.5 μm m-TiO 2 layer to 550 ± 20 °C while keeping a 12.5 μm indium-tin-oxide/polyimide foil below 170 °C with a water-cooled heat-sink. We obtain complete removal of organic binders, while the substrate sheet resistance increases modestly from 60.2 to 129.8 Ω sq –1 . Flexible DSCs reach power conversion efficiencies of 5.10% under AM 1.5G illumination, a record value for DSCs on sub-25 μm plastics. The finished devices deliver 51× the specific power of equivalent glass devices. A cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment normalized to power-per-mass reveals order-of-magnitude reductions in several categories compared with rigid hot-plate processing. Localized IR sintering thus removes the last processing barrier for truly roll-to-roll printable hybrid solar cells.
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Research context

PolymersCeramics & glassesElectronic materialsMaterials processing

OpenAlex topics: TiO2 Photocatalysis and Solar Cells · Nanomaterials and Printing Technologies · Pigment Synthesis and Properties

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Newcastle University

School of Natural and Environmental Sciences

University of Turin, Department of Chemistry, NIS Interdepartmental Centre and INSTM Reference Centre, Via Quarello 15/A, 10135 Torino (TO), Italy

ETH Zürich

Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Industrial Process and Energy Systems Engineering

Instituto Politécnico Nacional

Departamento de Física Aplicada

Center for Nanoscience and Sustainable Technologies (CNATS), Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales

Universidad Pablo de Olavide

Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, School of Basic Sciences

Laboratory for Molecular Engineering of Optoelectronic Nanomaterials, Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Funding

Royal Society · Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung · HORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions · Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca · Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

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