DEVELOPMENT OF SUPERHYDROPHOBIC SURFACES WITH SELF-CLEANING EFFECT FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES APPLICATIONS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59627/cbens.2016.1943Keywords:
Self-Cleaning Thin Film, Functionalization, Silicon oxideAbstract
The utilization of solar energy reaching the earth's surface, both as a source of heat and light, is now one of the most promising energy alternatives. The photovoltaic modules are exposed to the action of pollution, dusting and other natural factors that reduces the sunlight onto the cells, impairing their performance. The development of hydrophobic self-cleaning glazed surfaces is of great interest because of their various technological applications such as glasses for photovoltaic modules, cell phone, windshields of mobiles. In this study, a super-hydrophobic surface was developed by sol-gel technology. A stable sol was obtained using tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as precursor and the depositions were performed by dip-coating process on a slide microscope glass as substrate. The super-hydrophobic effect was obtained by deposition of SiO2 thin film and subsequent funcionalization using a surfactant as a coupling agent. The deposited coating was characterized in relation to contact angle and optical transmittance by UV-Vis spectrophotometry. The contact angle measurements of thin film before and after funcionalization was lower than 5° and 134° respectively, confirming the initial hydrophilicity and the hydrophobicity after functionalization. The glass transmittance has been improved by the coating. In this work a transparent and super-hydrophobic thin film, free of cracks, has been obtained by a simple route with good self-cleaning property.
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