TiO2/silane coupling agent composed of two layers structure: A super-hydrophilic self-cleaning coating applied in PV panels

To improve the properties of anti-dust for PV modules, the concept of self-cleaning has been proposed for many years. However, the traditional self-cleaning coating is unstable in nature environment, which limited its application in the PV panels. Therefore, this study aims to design a novel super-hydrophilic coating with high stability and corrosion resistance, which would be very advantageous to apply in the PV panels. The super-hydrophilic self-cleaning coating is composed of 3-triethoxysilylpropylamine (KH550) and TiO2. KH550 is a kind of surface modification agent, which creates more active groups on the surface of glasses. TiO2 is prepared by a hydrothermal reaction with titanium ethoxide, and the influence of pH is investigated as an important factor during the application in PV panels. The composition was measured by UV/VIS/NIR spectrophotometer, and the particle size distribution and the surface structure were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The TiO2 nanocrystal was investigated by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). The water contact angle (WCA) was measured by contact angle instrument. It was found that the static water contact angle on the surface of super-hydrophobic coating was as lower than 5°, which show an excellent super-hydrophilic property. Abstract should state the principal results and conclusions briefly, and the significance of this study.