Fraunhofer FEP: Hydrophilic coatings from the roll for facades and solar panels
At Parts2clean 2023, the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP will present a new process for easily retrofitting glass facades and solar panels with ultra-thin glass using hydrophilic coatings from the roll, thus preventing deposits in the future.
As part of the EU project New Skin, Fraunhofer FEP has developed a scalable process to provide ultra-thin glass with a hydrophobic titanium dioxide coating using the roll-to-roll process. This coating becomes superhydrophilic when exposed to UV light and prevents the deposition of dirt on glass facades or solar panels, for example.
The surface remains clean due to the cyclic change from hydrophobic to superhydrophilic and can wash off dirt caused by raindrops. UV-activated TiO2 also decomposes organic molecules on the surface, creating antibacterial and sterile surfaces. The developed process on ultrathin glass is very efficient and the ultrathin and lightweight glass can be subsequently applied to facades or directly incorporated into solar modules as a composite material - even on curved surfaces.