Polyimide Paste Drying With Polar Solvent Shape Stabilization
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge is to maintain the shape of a polyimide paste during drying in solar cell manufacturing without increasing the drying period or apparatus size, as high temperatures cause fluidity and pattern distortion.
Innovation Solution
A drying method involving the application of a polyimide paste with an organic solvent and a polar solvent, such as water or ethylene glycol, to the substrate surface, followed by drying and heating, which suppresses fluidity and maintains the desired pattern shape.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the polyimide paste is dried at a high temperature, then the drying speed is improved and productivity is increased, but the paste becomes fluid and the print pattern distorts or drops
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a protective coating to the polyimide paste before drying. This preliminary action creates a protective layer that prevents the paste from becoming fluid during high-temperature drying, allowing the paste to maintain its printed pattern shape while enabling faster drying speeds without distortion or dropping
Solution Approach 2:
The protective coating acts as an intermediary substance between the polyimide paste and the high-temperature drying environment. This intermediary layer allows heat transfer for efficient drying while simultaneously preventing the paste from becoming fluid and maintaining pattern integrity
2Manufacturing precision
If the polyimide paste is dried at a low temperature to maintain shape, then the pattern accuracy is improved, but the drying period increases and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
By applying the protective coating before drying, the patent enables the use of high drying temperatures without pattern distortion. This preliminary protective measure allows productivity to be increased through faster drying while maintaining pattern accuracy that would normally require slow, low-temperature drying
3Manufacturing precision
If the print pattern is made smaller to prevent distortion, then the pattern shape accuracy is improved, but the amount of paste that can be applied decreases and productivity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The protective coating serves as an intermediary that enables larger print patterns to be used without distortion. By preventing the paste from becoming fluid during drying, the coating allows full-sized patterns to be applied, maximizing the amount of paste that can be applied per unit time and area while maintaining shape accuracy
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method allows for high-temperature drying without pattern distortion, improving productivity by reducing the drying period and apparatus size, while ensuring reproducibility of the desired shape.
Implementation Method 1
it has been found that, when a solvent including a polar material is applied, fluidity can be suppressed by hydrogen bonds
Implementation Method 2
a drying step of drying the polyimide paste and the solvent including the polar material
Data Source
AI summary
A drying method of a polyimide paste which can maintain a printing shape while maintaining productivity includes an organic solvent and a polyimide resin dissolved in the organic solvent, and which becomes cured polyimide by being cured as a result of being dried and heated, the drying method including a step of applying the polyimide paste to a surface of a base material, a step of applying a solvent including a polar material to a surface of the base material at least at a portion where the polyimide paste is applied, and a step of, after applying the solvent including the polar material, drying the polyimide paste and the solvent including the polar material.