Self-Cleaning Anticondensing Glass via Supersonic Spraying of Silver Nanowires, Silica, and Polystyrene Nanoparticles

Abstract

We have sequentially deposited layers of silver nanowires (AgNWs), silicon dioxide (SiO) nanoparticles, and polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles on uncoated glass by a rapid low-cost supersonic spraying method to create antifrosting, anticondensation, and self-cleaning glass. The conductive silver nanowire network embedded in the coating allows electrical heating of the glass surface. Supersonic spraying is a single-step coating technique that does not require vacuum. The fabricated multifunctional glass was characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The thermal insulation and antifrosting performance were demonstrated using infrared thermal imaging. The reliability of the electrical heating function was tested through extensive cycling. This transparent multifunctional coating holds great promise for use in various smart window designs.

Supersonic Cold Spraying for Energy and Environmental Applications: One‐Step Scalable Coating Technology for Advanced Micro‐ and Nanotextured Materials

“…This unique self-healing phenomenon, which was reported in Ref. [87] for the first time, endows the cold spraying method with great promise as a cost-effective and scalable application method for graphene and graphene-like materials deposition on surfaces in industry.…”

“…Tables 1 and 3). [84,[86][87][88][89] We emphasize that the use of a suspension with the atomizer reduced the potential for aggregation of AgNWs during the cold spraying process. Moreover, the atomizer allowed the solvent in the AgNW suspension to rapidly evaporate in the supersonic air-stream, so that the airborne AgNWs could be coated in a dry state on the substrates [e.g., Cu, [84,88] Ecoflex, [85] polyethylene terephthalate (PET), [85,86] polyimide (PI), [89] , soda-lime glass [86] , and others [86] ].…”

“…[91] To address these issues, numerous approaches have been proposed to achieve efficient fabrication/deposition methods for graphene including adhesive-tape-peeling, [92,93] chemical vapor deposition (CVD), [94,95] , and various solution-based deposition methods (i.e., dip coating, [96,97] spin coating, [98,99] and spray coating [91,100,101] ). Among these methods, the supersonic cold spraying technique recently demonstrated the most promise for large scale graphene coating, as post-treatments are not required to eliminate defects in the deposit that would otherwise degrade its physicochemical properties [87] . In addition, cold spraying deposition can be performed on nearly any substrates.…”

“…[127] For example, to deposit Using a cold-spraying system equipped with an atomizer, an ultrathin thermally insulating layer composed of silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) was fabricated with a thickness of 1.1 μm (Tables 1 and 5). [87] For this, a SiO 2 suspension was prepared by dispersing SiO 2 nanoparticles (with an average diameter of 15 nm) in a viscoelastic PAN/DMF solution, which was then atomized into the supersonic air-stream. This was deposited onto the surface of cold-sprayed AgNWs and covered by a subsequent cold-sprayed PS (polystyrene) layer (cf.…”

Tackling the Stability Issues of Silver Nanowire Transparent Conductive Films through FeCl3 Dilute Solution Treatment

“…In addition, AgNWs can be dispersed as an ink [12,13,14,15] and readily deposited onto arbitrary substrates using simple solution-coating techniques, rendering AgNW TCFs particularly attractive for use in various optoelectrical devices. Solar cells [16], light emitting devices [17,18], transparent thin-film heaters [19,20], smart windows [21,22], and touch screens [23] have already been demonstrated by employing AgNW TCFs.…”