Fabrication of biomimetic patterns for high transmission and antifogging property

Abstract

Enhancing the transmission of optical components is important for improving the performance of optical and optoelectronic devices such as photovoltaic panels and concentration photovoltaic systems. A simple method to enhance the transmission of quartz slides is presented here by fabricating multiscale tapered pillars on both sides of the quartz slides. The multiscale tapered nanopillars, which introduced a refractive index gradient on both surfaces, were created by reactive ion etching with dewetted Ag thin films as masks. The presence of the gradient on both surfaces greatly reduces the loss of light caused by reflection, which will enhance the total transmission light. Excellent transmission over the visible and near infrared region is achieved after optimizing the parameter of the structure. The transmission of the dual-sided structured quartz is enhanced to higher than 99% over wavelengths from 650 to 850 nm. Meanwhile, the structured quartz exhibits an antifogging property which is needed in optical and optoelectronic devices. † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Details of Ag nanoparticles formed by thermal dewetting, SEM images of the deposited Ag lms of different thicknesses, Photographs of the dual-sided structured lens and plan convex lens are given. See

Flourishing Bioinspired Antifogging Materials with Superwettability: Progresses and Challenges

“…e) Digital picture of a dual‐sided structured slide (left) and a planar quartz slide (right) taken from a refrigerator to humid air. Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2015, Royal Society of Chemistry.…”

Emission Enhancement of Fluorescent Molecules by Antireflective Arrays

“…Many researchers have employed this method and achieved a series of successful results [24–27]. However, the enhancement requires that the maximum excitation or emission of fluorescence molecule should match with the photonic crystal reflection, which restricts these techniques from practical applications [28–30]. The antireflective arrays can enhance the absorption of light in a wide range of wavelengths due to reducing the surface reflective [31–36].…”

In situgrowth of TiO2/SiO2nanospheres on glass substratesviasolution impregnation for antifogging

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] The super-hydrophilicity can be fabricated either by micro-/nano-scale structure or by high surface concentrations of functional (e.g., hydroxyl) groups. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Silica is one of the widely used super-hydrophilic materials with superior transparency and anti-fogging performance due to the high surface concentration of hydroxyl groups. Meanwhile, TiO 2 is also widely used for antifogging as the thin sol-gel made polycrystalline lms because of its UV-induced super-hydrophilicity.…”