High performance broad band antireflective coatings using a facile synthesis of ink-bottle mesoporous MgF2 nanoparticles for solar applications

• Published in: Solar energy materials and solar cells 2017-01, Vol.159, p.204-211
• Main Authors: Karthik, Dhadala, Pendse, Saloni, Sakthivel, Shanmugasundaram, Ramasamy, Easwaramoorthi, Joshi, Shrikant Vishwanath
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antireflective coating; Broad band; Magnesium fluoride; Manufacturing and materials engineering; Mesoporous; Nanoparticle layer; Production Technology; Produktions- och materialteknik; Produktionsteknik
• ISSN: 0927-0248; 1879-3398; 1879-3398
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2016.08.007

Ultra-low refractive index thin films suitable for practical antireflective (AR) applications must be highly transparent, economical, and durable against temperature and weather conditions. In this work, we present a high performance broad band antireflective coating using a facile synthesis of Ink-Bottle mesoporous MgF2 nanoparticles. The nanoparticles having high crystalline and dispersible properties were prepared by a deformation-reformation route from coarse commercial MgF2 hydrate powder by Lyothermal synthesis. These nanoparticles, after dispersion in a suitable solvent were used to develop a single layer AR coating by dip-coating technique. We precisely developed coatings tunable to achieve minimum reflection losses between 400 and 1500nm. The AR coating exhibited nearly 100% transmittance within visible range (615–660nm) and an average transmittance of 99% and 97% in the visible (400–800nm) and active solar range (300–1500nm) respectively. Further, use of the AR coating on PV glass led to a net improvement of 6% in efficiency for c-Si solar cells. This work opens a promising approach to improve the device performance of solar cells as well as solar collectors by developing broad band antireflective surfaces using mesoporous nanoparticles. •High Performance broad band anti-reflective coating (BARC) was developed by a facile synthesis of Ink-Bottle mesoporous MgF2 nanoparticles.•The nanoparticles were prepared by a unique route of deformation– reformation.•BARC showed high performance (100% T) in short range in visible region with an average transmittance >99% in entire visible region.•A net increase in efficiency of 6% achieved when c-Si solar cell is covered with AR coated plate.•BARC showed high environmental and thermal stability.