Manufacturing of SiO2-ZnO materials with optical properties

Antireflection coatings have been widely used to increase the absorption of solar collectors and to reduce surface reflection. Many techniques have been explored to prepare thin coatings, such as sputtering, chemical etching, chemical vapour deposition, and sol-gel method. SiO2-ZnO coatings were prepared on the surface of glass substrates via the sol-gel dip-coating process. The structural, morphological and optical properties of the coatings were characterized. The vitreous structure was identified by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Morphology of materials was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The reflectance spectra were investigated and the optical performance of the structure was determined.