Oxidation-resistant, solution-processed plasmonic Ni nanochain-SiO{sub x} (x < 2) selective solar thermal absorbers
- Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, 14 Engineering Drive, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755 (United States)
- Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky, 177 F. Paul Anderson Tower, Lexington, Kentucky 40506 (United States)
- Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 (United States)
Metal oxidation at high temperatures has long been a challenge in cermet solar thermal absorbers, which impedes the development of atmospherically stable, high-temperature, high-performance concentrated solar power (CSP) systems. In this work, we demonstrate solution-processed Ni nanochain-SiO{sub x} (x < 2) and Ni nanochain-SiO{sub 2} selective solar thermal absorbers that exhibit a strong anti-oxidation behavior up to 600 °C in air. The thermal stability is far superior to previously reported Ni nanoparticle-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} selective solar thermal absorbers, which readily oxidize at 450 °C. The SiO{sub x} (x < 2) and SiO{sub 2} matrices are derived from hydrogen silsesquioxane and tetraethyl orthosilicate precursors, respectively, which comprise Si-O cage-like structures and Si-O networks. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy shows that the dissociation of Si-O cage-like structures and Si-O networks at high temperatures have enabled the formation of new bonds at the Ni/SiO{sub x} interface to passivate the surface of Ni nanoparticles and prevent oxidation. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy demonstrate that the excess Si in the SiO{sub x} (x < 2) matrices reacts with Ni nanostructures to form silicides at the interfaces, which further improves the anti-oxidation properties. As a result, Ni-SiO{sub x} (x < 2) systems demonstrate better anti-oxidation performance than Ni-SiO{sub 2} systems. This oxidation-resistant Ni nanochain-SiO{sub x} (x < 2) cermet coating also exhibits excellent high-temperature optical performance, with a high solar absorptance of ∼90% and a low emittance ∼18% measured at 300 °C. These results open the door towards atmospheric stable, high temperature, high-performance solar selective absorber coatings processed by low-cost solution-chemical methods for future generations of CSP systems.
- OSTI ID:
- 22314292
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 116, Issue 7; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
CERMETS
COATINGS
DISSOCIATION
INTERFACES
MATHEMATICAL SOLUTIONS
NANOPARTICLES
NANOSTRUCTURES
OXIDATION
PRECURSOR
RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY
SILICIDES
SILICON OXIDES
SURFACES
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0400-1000 K
X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY