Carbon Doped Boron Nitride Nano-Coatings for Durable, Low Emissivity Glass Windows

Energy-efficient, durable low-emissivity (low-E) glass windows are in demand for reducing energy consumption and comfortable living environments. However, commercial low-E coating materials are expensive, prone to abrasion, and hence coated only on the interior side of windows, limiting their energy efficiency. Here, a new material is introduced, namely chemically inert and transparent carbon (C) doped boron nitride (BN) nano-coatings on glass surfaces at room temperature using pulsed laser deposition, that shows promising long-wave infrared emissivity (ε_LWIR ≈0.42). The hydrophilic C-BN coatings on glass show excellent environmental stability including high temperature-high humidity degradation resistance, UV-light, thermal cycling, freezing condition, and saltwater resilience. Furthermore, the coating shows promising adhesion on the glass surface with full scratch protection. In an actual-sized building energy simulation for cold-climates, the intended exterior-side C-BN coated low-E glass shows 2.9% energy savings compared to the interior-side coated commercial low-E glass. C-BN would be a useful coating material for durable and energy-efficient low-E glass window technology.