Surface Modification of Polyvinyl Alcohol‐Nanocellulose Composites for Hydrophobic Self‐Cleaning Solar Panel Cover

Abstract

Cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposites are studied as a green alternative to counteract solar panel soiling. CNC synthesized from acid hydrolysis is blended with PVA, and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) is blended with powdered silica (SiO2) for surface modification to produce a transparent, hydrophobic, and durable film. The objective is to test the composite film for transparency, hydrophobicity, and durability to determine its suitability as a self‐cleaning solar panel cover. The composite film exhibits an average transmittance of 93% of the incident light in the solar photo‐voltaic working spectra (420–700 nm). Results show an average water contact angle (WCA) of 87.25°, and when subjected to photocatalytic and hydrolytic decay, the film shows minimal changes in the characteristic peaks of the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) plot of PVA/CNC, confirming its durability. The study points out the prospect of PVA/CNC with PBT/SiO2 film as a transparent, hydrophobic, durable self‐cleaning covers against solar soiling and warranted further research to make suitable properties.

Comparative Study of Polymer Composites with Cellulose Microfibers from Different Plant Resources

“…Ma et al [31] also reported NCC reinforcement in tensile properties of the ethylene-co-vinyl acetate (EVA)/ NCC nanocomposites [31]. NCCs not only enhance mechanical strength but also induce other properties, such as optical transparency, to some polymeric systems compared to other microscopic fillers [32][33][34]. Although NCCs seem to have more reinforcing effects than MCC according to the literature [30,35], NCC preparations are highly time, and energy consuming, at the same time, generally require strong and toxic chemicals too, which are difficult to separate from the fibers in their pure and dry state [36][37][38].…”

A brief review on preparation and application of MWCNT-based polymer nanocomposites

“…These fillers may be of 0 dimensional (0D), one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D). 3D particles are cubical or spherical structures spread in x, y and z directions for instance boehmite [11], silica [12] and different kinds of particle. 2D particles are sheet-like layered particles spread in x and y directions for instance graphite.…”

“…2D particles are sheet-like layered particles spread in x and y directions for instance graphite. 1D particles are tubular or cylindrical in the structure such as singlewalled (SWCNT), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) whereas 0D are the quantum dots which are very minute particles comprising few atoms such as fullerenes, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) etc., [9][10][11][12][13].…”