We investigate the effect of the modification of cellulose acetate propionate as an organic vehicle for silver paste on solar cell efficiency. For the modification of cellulose acetate propionate, poly(ethylene glycol) is introduced to the hydroxyl groups of a cellulose acetate propionate backbone via esterification reaction. The chemical structure and composition of poly(ethylene glycol) functionalized cellulose acetate propionate is characterized by Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance, differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. Due to the effect of structural change for poly(ethylene glycol) functionalized cellulose acetate propionate on the viscosity of silver paste, the solar cell efficiency increases from 18.524% to 18.652 %. In addition, when ethylene carbonate, which has a structure similar to poly(ethylene glycol), is introduced to cellulose acetate propionate via ring opening polymerization, we find that the efficiency of the solar cell increases from 18.524% to 18.622%.

Conductive pastes consist of conductive fillers( Au, Ag, Ni, Cu etc.), organic binders, solvents and additives. Meanwhile, there are some metal powders such as copper, nickel etc that are used for pastes which have serious surface corrosion problems. This problem leads to change of the color and decrease in conductivity and affect storage stability of conductive pastes. By using silane coupling agent and dispersion agent, we can ensure both the corrosion stability and long term storage stability, and enhance the high performance electrical and mechanical properties of EMI shielding silicone sealant.