SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SUPERHYDROPHILIC SELF-CLEANING FILM BASED ON TiO2/SiO2 COMPOSITE FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Transparent, superhydrophilic materials in photovoltaic (PV) applications are indispensable for their self-cleaning function, which can protect the solar cell and raise the efficiency of solar modules. This study presented the synthesis and fabrication of TiO₂/SiO₂ films by the dip-coating method of sol−gel solutions on glass. The TiO₂/SiO₂ composites containing different SiO₂ contents were characterized by XRD and FTIR. The transparency and hydrophilic properties of the films were investigated by UV-vis and WCA. TiO₂ sol was mixed with SiO₂ sol by differing TiO₂/SiO₂ ratios of 1/3, 1/1, and 3/1. The best TiO₂/SiO₂ coating with the ratio of 1/3 was attained on the glass surface after calcining the template at 400 °C. The maximum transmittance of this film reached ∼93.0%, and the film surface showed an excellent super-hydrophilicity with WCA ≈ 4.7°. The results revealed that this composite material would be a promising candidate for the self-cleaning applications of solar module surfaces.