Study on the Synthesis and Performances of Ultrafine Silver Powder Used as Silicon Solar Cell Front Silver Contacts

High-performance ultrafine silver powder used as crystalline silicon solar cell front conductive paste was prepared by chemical liquid-phase reduction method using silver nitrate as metal source, ascorbic acid as reductant, and gelatin as dispersant. The effects of reducing agent concentration, doses of dispersant, PH value of reaction solution and reaction temperature on the performance of silver powder were studied. The morphology, particle size and dispersibility of silver powder were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The size distribution of silver particles was characterized by laser particle size analyzer. The crystalline silicon solar cells were produced by screen-printing front conductive silver paste, made with the obtained silver powder. The photoelectric properties of the solar cells were measured by solar simulator. The processing parameters of preparation silver powder, which meets the requirement of making high conversion efficiency solar cells, were optimized.