LOW-COST ROBOTIC SYSTEM FOR PREPARATION OF LAYER-BY-LAYER FILMS

Layer-by-Layer is an efficient technique for the deposition of thin films used in several devices such as sensors, solar cells, and other systems. A robotic system improves the process reproducibility, be a stand-alone system, and does not demand human participation during the deposition process. On the other hand, the commercially available equipment is expensive. In this work, we present a low-cost robotic system built by using materials commonly found that allows performing several bathing, drying steps and deposition cycles of the substrates necessary for the formation of LbL films. This technical note presents the electronic assembly scheme and the program developed for an experiment. The number of baths, the time necessary for the deposition, and repetitions to result in the formation of the desired film; can be easily modified in this program. The films prepared in this experiment were successfully employed for the preparation of compact layers for perovskite solar cells. Therefore, the equipment can be easily customized to the needs of each research group that uses it.