Fluorine-free approaches to impart photovoltaic systems with self-cleaning and anti-icing features

Dust deposition on photovoltaic systems has a significant impact on the transmittance, temperature, and roughness, causing reductions in their power generation efficiency and lifetime. A promising approach to deal with this problem relies on the use of superhydrophobic coatings to impart the surfaces of these devices with self-cleaning properties. In this work, materials with different chemistry and morphology were added to an acrylic dispersion to create hydrophobic surfaces using a non-fluorinated coating simple strategy for glass substrates. Results showed that materials with more complex morphology, namely the spherical shape of silica nanoparticles, and the needle-like and prism-like structures of zinc oxide, imparted the glass with higher water contact angles. All coatings prepared displayed self-cleaning features and good adhesion to the glass substrate. Coatings comprising silica nanoparticles, zirconia and alumina modified with HDMTS were the best ones to prevent ice formation. In terms of chemical stability, all the coatings resisted acidic conditions close to acid rain pH and solvents with mild polarity. Therefore, the coatings proposed hold great potential to expel dust contaminants and prevent ice formation of photovoltaic devices, increasing their lifetime and power generation efficiency.