Ag films with enhanced adhesion fabricated by solution process for solar reflector applications

• A simple and inexpensive solution process is developed to construct Ag film.
• The enhanced adhesion is owing to covalent bonds between silver and substrate.
• The silver film is homogenous without any impurity.
• Typical electrical and optical properties of Ag have been maintained.

A simple and inexpensive solution process has been developed to construct a silver film with enhanced adhesion by electroless plating for solar reflector applications. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) were employed to characterize the surfaces. This reinforced adhesion is due to chemical covalent bonds between silver and substrate atoms. Silver maintains its unique conductivity even as a film on the ABS surface as demonstrated by four-point probe measurement. Moreover, UV/VIS/NIR spectrometer data confirms high reflectance of the Ag films in the infrared region indicating potential application for solar coatings. The method presented a convenient, compatible, and easily scalable manufacturing process with higher efficiency, which is of significant value for industrial fabrication of silver films and could have a promising future in concentrating solar systems.

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