Anti-soiling transparent sol-gel coating with fast curability at room temperature

Abstract

An innovative hydrophobic (WCA ≥ 90°), transparent thin film is reported. It is applicable on any glass, ceramic, or metallic surface. Notably, it can be applied on photovoltaic panels, providing a solution for the soiling phenomena, and increasing their efficiency, in fact in pursuing the energy efficiency, the importance of careful maintenance of cleaned photovoltaic fields to preserve their efficiency is a key factor. The proposed new coating is based on organic-inorganic hybrid sol-gel formulations having two major advantages: (a) being applicable on any glass surface (photovoltaic, building glasses, automotive, marine, …); (b) being applicable directly in the field thanks to their fast-curing times (120 seconds or less) at ambient temperature. The good physical and chemical behaviour of the new coating has been verified by measures and tests such as Water Contact Angle (WCA), anti-soiling properties and durability.