Compounding Design and Synergistic Mechanism of Cutting Fluid for Photovoltaic Silicon Wafers with High-Performance

doi:10.16553/j.cnki.issn1000-985x.2025.0250

Abstract

Abstract: To address the increasing demands for large-size， thin photovoltaic silicon wafers in diamond wire cutting technology， and to overcome the limitations of conventional cutting fluids that rely on single functional additives to simultaneously achieve high lubricity， wettability， and foam resistance， a novel multi-component compounding strategy was adopted. This approach involved the construction of a composite lubrication system through the combination of water-based polyether and oil-based polyether， optimization of dynamic surface tension via compounding of alkyne glycol and fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether wetting agents， and identification of an alkyne alcohol polyether defoamer with both rapid and persistent antifoaming properties through systematic screening. The performance of the cutting fluid was systematically evaluated using laboratory friction and wear tests， dynamic surface tension analysis， and foam characteristic assessments， with its overall effectiveness further validated through industrial cutting trials. Laboratory results indicate that when lubricants were compounded at a ratio of 20% （mass fraction， the same below） water-based polyether and 2% oil-based polyether， the friction coefficient and wear scar width were reduced to 0.079 and 536.8 μm， respectively， demonstrating superior lubricating performance compared to commercial counterparts. After compounding the wetting agents at a specified ratio， the dynamic surface tension of the cutting fluid was observed to be lower than that of the reference sample across the entire bubble lifetime range. Field application results reveal that the A-grade rate of silicon wafers cut with the developed cutting fluid （QS-C-101） reaches 96.11%， accompanied by a chipping rate， total thickness variation （TTV）， and average wire mark value of 0.26%， 7.91 μm， and 7.69 μm， respectively. All key performance metrics were found to be superior to those of the mainstream commercial cutting fluid. Through the synergistic compounding of functional additives， a high-performance diamond wire cutting fluid with outstanding comprehensive properties has been successfully developed， offering an effective technical solution to enhance the quality and efficiency of large-size， thin silicon ingot cutting.

Key words: diamond wire cutting fluid; lubricity; wettability; foam resistance; synergistic compounding; photovoltaic silicon wafer

CLC Number:

O786

ZHANG Zitong, HUANG Xueting, ZOU Yang, DAI Yuanjing. Compounding Design and Synergistic Mechanism of Cutting Fluid for Photovoltaic Silicon Wafers with High-Performance[J]. Journal of Synthetic Crystals, 2026, 55(5): 736-745.

Figures/Tables 9

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of Rtec friction and wear tester

Fig.2 Tribological performance of lubricant 1 with different addition amounts. （a） COF versus time curves；（b） average COF and wear scar width

Fig.3 Tribological performance of lubricant 2 with different addition amounts. （a） COF versus time curves；（b） average COF and wear scar width

Fig.4 Schematic diagram of synergistic mechanism of water-based/oil-based polyether composite lubricating film

Fig.5 Dynamic surface tension of cutting fluid. （a） Different wetting agents；（b） different compounding ratios of wetting agents

Fig.6 Schematic diagram of adsorption kinetics and synergy of different wetting agents at the gas-liquid interface

Table 1 Foam resistance of different types of defoamers

Sample	Foam volume/mL	Defoaming time/s
Commercial cutting fluid	480.0	8.0
No defoamer	>1 000	—
Polyether-type	600.0	20.0
Linear alcohol-type	450.0	7.0
Alkyne alcohol polyether-type	400.0	7.0
Polyether-modified silicone-type	350.0	6.0

Fig.7 Long-term foam resistance of different defoamers. （a） Foam volume；（b） defoaming time

Fig. 8 Comparison of silicon wafer performance after cutting with two cutting fluids. （a） A-grade rate；（b） chipping rate；（c） average TTV；（d） mean wire mark

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