The present master thesis deals with the modification of thickness insensitive spectrally selective absorber coatings. Currently, the practical application of such coatings faces at least three challenges. The most commonly used in industry are: i) non-selective coatings, which means loss of thermal energy by radiation, ii) absorber coatings based on organic solvents that burden the environment with high emissions, iii) coatings with absorbing surfaces on which dust and dirt accumulate, resulting in reduced efficiency of solar to heat conversion. The performance of the coatings can be improved by using black or colored spectrally selective coatings based on optimized graphene pigments in combination with binders which allow low thermal emissivity. Emission is further reduced by using flaky metallic pigments. It is known that aluminum flakes, suitable for absorber coatings, react with water in water-based binder, so a protective modification of the flake surface is required to preserve the reflective porperties of Al flakes in the IR range. VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions to the environment are reduced by formulating water-based coatings instead of volatile organic solvents.
We have prepared several different spectrally selective absorber coatings; functionalized graphene nanoribbons coating, GNR coating with a weater-based binder and GNR coatings with different weight fractions of Black 444 pigment. The morphology of GNR and prepared cotings was examinated by scanning electron microscopy. The coatings were also determinated by the values of solar absorption and heat emission (αS and εT values), which were then used to calculate the efficency of the conversion of solar radiation into heat. The spinel pigment Black 444 was modifed by the inclusion of different proportions of Cr3+ ions. The success of incorporation of Cr3+ ions into the pigment structure was detected by FTIR spectroscopy. New optical properties of doped pigmets were verified by UV/VIS and IR spectrophotometry.
The aluminium flakes were coated with various graphene pigments and the commercial pigment Black 444. The coverage of the flakes with pigments was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Their anti-corrosion resistance was tested by performing a rapid corrosion test and a salt chamber simulation test.
|