Anti-reflective and anti-soiling coatings with self-cleaning properties
View Patent ↗Disclosed herein is a coated glass element including a glass component and a coating adhered to the glass component through siloxane linkages, the coating having at least one of an anti-reflective property, a high abrasion resistance property and a hydrophobic property, wherein the coating comprises a dried gel formed from at least one hydrolyzed alkoxysilane-based sol and at least one hydrolyzed organosilane-based sol.
1. A coated glass element, comprising:
a glass component; and
a coating adhered to the glass component through siloxane linkages, the coating having at least one of an anti-reflective property, an abrasion resistance property and a hydrophobic property;
wherein the coating comprises a dried gel formed from at least one hydrolyzed tetra-alkoxysilane-based sol and at least one hydrolyzed organosilane-based sol.
2. The element of claim 1 , wherein the glass component is a component of a solar module.
3. The element of claim 1 , wherein the glass component is a component of a window.
4. The element of claim 1 , wherein the glass component is a component of a mirror.
5. The element of claim 1 , wherein the glass component is tempered.
6. The element of claim 1 , wherein the hydrolyzed organosilane is prepared separately before combining with the tetra-alkoxysilane or with another reagent.
7. The element of claim 1 , wherein a first side of the glass component is first coated with the coating and a second side is first coated with a transparent conductive oxide.
8. The element of claim 7 , wherein the transparent conductive oxide is the front electrode of a thin film solar panel.
9. The element of claim 1 , wherein the coated glass element has an increased optical transmission of 1% to 3% on an absolute basis compared to an uncoated glass element.
10. The element of claim 1 , wherein the glass component is a component of a solar module and the coating increases a peak power output of the solar module by 1.0% to 3.0% compared to a solar module with an uncoated glass component.
11. The element of claim 1 , wherein the coating has abrasion resistance sufficient to pass standard EN1096-2 with an absolute loss of transmission of no more than 0.5% and enables a post-test light transmission gain of greater than 1% on an absolute basis as compared to uncoated glass.
12. The element of claim 1 , wherein the coating has the anti-reflective property and a thickness of 60 nm to 150 nm.
13. The element of claim 1 , wherein the coating has the anti-reflective property and a thickness of the coating is adapted to enhance solar transmission between 400 nanometers and 1150 nanometers.
14. The element of claim 1 , wherein the coating has a water contact angle of 80 degrees to 178 degrees.
15. The element of claim 1 , wherein the dried gel further comprises a hydrolyzed organofluorosilane-based sol.
16. The element of claim 1 , wherein the glass component is untempered.
17. A coated glass element, comprising:
a float glass component; and
a coating adhered to a tin-side of the float glass component through siloxane linkages, the coating having at least one of an anti-reflective property, an abrasion resistance property,
and a hydrophobic property, wherein the coating comprises a dried gel formed from a combination of sols comprising:
a hydrolyzed organosilane-based sol and a hydrolyzed tetra-alkoxysilane sol,
wherein the coated glass element has greater light transmission than a coated glass element wherein the coating is adhered to a non-tin-side of the float glass component, and
wherein the high abrasion resistance property of the coating is tunable by varying relative proportions of the hydrolyzed organosilane and the hydrolyzed tetra-alkoxysilane.
18. The element of claim 17 , wherein the float glass component is a component of a solar module.
19. The element of claim 17 , wherein the float glass component is a component of a window or a mirror.
20. The element of claim 17 , wherein the float glass component is a component of a solar module and the coating increases a solar weighted photon gain of the solar module by at least 10.0% when applied to the tin-side as compared to when applied to the non-tin side.
21. The element of claim 17 , wherein the hydrolyzed organosilane comprises methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMOS).
22. The element of claim 17 , wherein the non-tin-side of the float glass component is coated with a transparent conductive oxide.
23. The element of claim 22 , wherein the transparent conductive oxide is a front electrode of a thin film solar panel.
24. The element of claim 17 , wherein the coated glass element has an increased optical transmission of 1% to 3% on an absolute basis compared to an uncoated glass element.
25. The element of claim 17 , wherein the float glass component is a component of a solar module and the coating increases a peak power output of the solar module by 1.0% to 3.5% compared to a module with an uncoated float glass component.
26. The element of claim 17 , wherein the coating has abrasion resistance sufficient to pass standard EN1096-2 with an absolute loss of transmission of no more than 0.5% and enables a post-test light transmission gain of greater than 1% on an absolute basis as compared to uncoated glass.
27. The element of claim 17 , wherein the coating has the anti-reflective property and a thickness of 60 nm to 150 nm.
28. The element of claim 17 , wherein the coating has the anti-reflective property and a thickness of the coating is adapted to enhance solar transmission between wavelengths of 400 nanometers and 1150 nanometers.
29. The element of claim 17 , wherein the hydrolyzed tetra-alkoxysilane is selected from the group consisting of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and tetramethoxysilane (TMOS).
30. The element of claim 17 , wherein the dried gel further comprises a hydrolyzed organofluorosilane based sol.