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Self-Cleaning Hydrophobic Coating Composed of Micro/Nano-Imprinted Polydimethylsiloxane with Enhanced Light
Thatheyus Peter Xavier1, Malar Piraviperumal1
1Thinfilm Photovoltaics Laboratory, Department of Physics and Nanotechnology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur 603203, Tamil Nadu, India.
Abstract:
In this study, we have optimized optically transparent polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) hydrophobic coating on glass substrates that exhibit self-cleaning as well as enhanced light in-coupling capabilities. Micro/nano textures on the surface of PDMS were introduced through micro/nanoimprinting to achieve light trapping as well as self-cleaning abilities. Comprehensive studies show that the periodic arrangement of the micro/nanopatterned features has enabled enhanced inward transmission of light in the visible range along with superior hydrophobicity. The water contact angle (WCA) measurements on these coatings demonstrated a superior capacity for self-cleaning with a WCA of about 117°. Subsequently, when these transparent and hydrophobic coatings were deposited on commercial silicon solar cells, they showed a 15.8% increment in efficiency due to enhanced light in-coupling with a nanopatterned PDMS coating.
