Antireflective Self-Cleaning TiO2 Coatings for Solar Energy Harvesting Applications

Frontiers in Materials

Adeel Afzal¹  Muhammad Shahid¹  Abdul Rehman²  Amir Habib³  Iftikhar Ulhasan³ 

[1] Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Hafr Al Batin, Hafr Al Batin, Saudi Arabia;Department of Chemistry, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia;Department of Physics, College of Science, University of Hafr Al Batin, Hafr Al Batin, Saudi Arabia;

关键词: antireflection;    coatings;    renewable energy;    self-cleaning;    solar cells;    titania;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmats.2021.687059

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Titanium(IV) oxide (TiO2, titania) is well-known for its excellent photocatalytic properties, wide bandgap, chemical resistance, and photostability. Nanostructured TiO2 is extensively utilized in various electronic and energy-related applications such as resistive switching memory devices, flat panel displays, photodiodes, solar water-splitting, photocatalysis, and solar cells. This article presents recent advances in the design and nanostructuring of TiO2-containing antireflective self-cleaning coatings for solar cells. In particular, the energy harvesting efficiency of a solar cell is greatly diminished by the surface reflections and deposition of environmental contaminants over time. Nanostructured TiO2 coatings not only minimize reflection through the graded transition of the refractive index but simultaneously improve the device’s ability to self-clean and photocatalytically degrade the pollutants. Thus, novel approaches to achieve higher solar cell efficiency and stability with pristine TiO2 and TiO2-containing nanocomposite coatings are highlighted herein. The results are compared and discussed to emphasize the key research and development shortfalls and a commercialization perspective is considered to guide future research.

【 授权许可】

Unknown