Bioinspired omnidirectional antireflective film with mechanical durability for efficient solar energy collection

Abstract

•The internal structure of the dragonfly ommateum exhibits omnidirectional antireflection •Exquisite biomimetic structures could be prepared via a self-assembly strategy •Biomimetic antireflective film enables efficient omnidirectional antireflection •Biomimetic structure is the key to boosting the photovoltaic performance of solar cells Soaring developments in solar cells raise an urgent demand for superior antireflective (AR) materials to tackle the concern of their inadequate photovoltaic efficiency. Unfortunately, conventional AR films still suffer from a deficiency in omnidirectional antireflection and mechanical durability, significantly weakening their light-harvesting capability. Herein, a scalable biomimetic antireflective film (BARF) with ommateum-inspired multiscale hierarchical architecture was prepared using a method combining layer-by-layer thermal decomposition and in situ self-assembly. Remarkably, the BARF exhibited a transmittance of over 95% in light incident angles from −75° to 75°. Thereby, the output voltage of solar cells coated with BARF increased by 30.48% compared with commercial AR film. Furthermore, the BARF demonstrated excellent mechanical durability in falling-sand tests (∼2% transmittance loss). This work offers a general strategy for mass production of omnidirectional and durable AR films that are suitable for practical applications of protective AR film in solar cells, light pollution treatment, and video stealth technology. Soaring developments in solar cells raise an urgent demand for superior antireflective (AR) materials to tackle the concern of their inadequate photovoltaic efficiency. Unfortunately, conventional AR films still suffer from a deficiency in omnidirectional antireflection and mechanical durability, significantly weakening their light-harvesting capability. Herein, a scalable biomimetic antireflective film (BARF) with ommateum-inspired multiscale hierarchical architecture was prepared using a method combining layer-by-layer thermal decomposition and in situ self-assembly. Remarkably, the BARF exhibited a transmittance of over 95% in light incident angles from −75° to 75°. Thereby, the output voltage of solar cells coated with BARF increased by 30.48% compared with commercial AR film. Furthermore, the BARF demonstrated excellent mechanical durability in falling-sand tests (∼2% transmittance loss). This work offers a general strategy for mass production of omnidirectional and durable AR films that are suitable for practical applications of protective AR film in solar cells, light pollution treatment, and video stealth technology. Graphical Abstract View Large Image Figure Viewer Download Hi-res image