Automation of electrophoresis deposition technique using LabView

Abstract

This work describes the design and automation of a low-cost electrophoresis deposition power supply incorporating inexpensive electronic components, intelligent micro-programmed technology, and graphical interfaces. This dispositive is used essentially for the manufacture of titanium dioxide (TiO2) layers used as photo-anodes of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We present and discuss details of the electrical and control components. The voltage and the deposition time of the grown layers have been programmed using the LabVIEW software. The automation of the deposition system gives the possible regulation and more precise optimization than the manual use too and minimizes the error rate that can be caused by operator intervention. We had used this dispositive to prepare TiO2 films for different deposition voltages. We studied the effect of deposition voltage on the morphology structure of manufactured TiO2 layers and their thickness. We have noticed that the increase of the deposition voltage increases the thickness and causes an increase of the cracking through the TiO2 layer.