AUTHOR=Afzal Adeel , Habib Amir , Ulhasan Iftikhar , Shahid Muhammad , Rehman Abdul 

TITLE=Antireflective Self-Cleaning TiO2 Coatings for Solar Energy Harvesting Applications

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Materials

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/materials/articles/10.3389/fmats.2021.687059

DOI=10.3389/fmats.2021.687059

ISSN=2296-8016

ABSTRACT=<p>Titanium(IV) oxide (TiO<sub>2</sub>, titania) is well-known for its excellent photocatalytic properties, wide bandgap, chemical resistance, and photostability. Nanostructured TiO<sub>2</sub> is extensively utilized in various electronic and energy-related applications such as resistive switching memory devices, flat panel displays, photodiodes, solar water-splitting, photocatalysis, and solar cells. This article presents recent advances in the design and nanostructuring of TiO<sub>2</sub>-containing antireflective self-cleaning coatings for solar cells. In particular, the energy harvesting efficiency of a solar cell is greatly diminished by the surface reflections and deposition of environmental contaminants over time. Nanostructured TiO<sub>2</sub> coatings not only minimize reflection through the graded transition of the refractive index but simultaneously improve the device’s ability to self-clean and photocatalytically degrade the pollutants. Thus, novel approaches to achieve higher solar cell efficiency and stability with pristine TiO<sub>2</sub> and TiO<sub>2</sub>-containing nanocomposite coatings are highlighted herein. The results are compared and discussed to emphasize the key research and development shortfalls and a commercialization perspective is considered to guide future research.</p>