Thin Film Slot Coating in a Rarefied Low Viscosity Gas

Presented by H. Benkreira and J.B. Ikin, University of Bradford

A key limitation of the slot coating process when attempting to coat very thin films is due to air entrainment. We show in this research that by replacing the air with a low viscosity gas and reducing the pressure it is possible to significantly reduce the thickness of coated films of an acceptable quality. This is likely to be of interest to manufacturers developing roll-to-roll systems producing, for example, flexible solar cells or batteries.