Particulate Coatings with Optimized Haze Properties

Abstract

AbstractThe haze factor, which describes the fraction of light that is scattered when passing through a transparent material, is of general importance for any optical device, from milk glass shielding visibility while providing ambient lighting to solar cells that are optimized by sophisticated light management layers. Often, such active layers are fabricated from particulate materials that are deposited as thin films on a substrate. Here, the effect of structural arrangement, position, and orientation of particles on the resulting haze factor is investigated. A mathematical optimization model that iteratively alters the particle layer structure to maximize or minimize the haze factor for a range of optimization scenarios is designed. Colloidal self‐assembly techniques are then used to replicate typical particle structures found in the optimized designs and correlate the macroscopically measured haze values to the predictions of the optimization. The results indicate general design rules that control the haze value in particle layers. Non close‐packed structures with distributed scatterers and high degrees of order provide minimal haze values while chain‐like arrangements and small clusters maximize the haze of a particle layer. Finally, the findings are transferred to metal nanohole films as model transparent electrodes with controlled haze values.