Highly transparent and UV-resistant superhydrophobic SiO2-coated ZnO nanorod arrays

Highly transparent and UV-resistant superhydrophobic arrays of SiO 2-coated ZnO nanorods are prepared in a sequence of low-temperature (<150 C) steps on both glass and thin sheets of PET (2 × 2 in. 2), and the superhydrophobic nanocomposite is shown to have minimal impact on solar cell device performance under AM1.5G illumination. Flexible plastics can serve as front cell and backing materials in the manufacture of flexible displays and solar cells. © 2014 American Chemical Society.

Sponsors

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Office of Competitive Research Funds (OCRF) at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) under the "Competitive Research Grant" (CRG) program No. FIC/2010/02. The authors thank the Advanced Imaging and Characterization Laboratories at KAUST for technical support. Y.G. thanks Prof. Boon Ooi and Dr. TienKhee Ng for helpful discussions and useful scientific insights. The authors thank Dr. Clement Cabanetos for providing the PBDTTPD polymer.

Publisher

American Chemical Society (ACS)

Journal

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

ISSN

19448244