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Photovoltaic technology is a prominent source of renewable energy, but maintenance costs and efficiency attenuation of large photovoltaic devices are significant issues due to their vast energy conversion area. To reduce costs and facilitate maintenance, superhydrophobic surfaces with self‐cleaning properties have been developed for photovoltaic glass. In this study, transparent ZnO nanoarrays (NAs) are synthesized on photovoltaic glass, with Eu3+ doping enhancing the ultraviolet radiation resistance of photovoltaic devices and slightly increasing visible transmittance. A TiO2 passivation layer is introduced on the ZnO NAs surface to enhance acid resistance and mitigate corrosion caused by acidic rainwater. Fluoroalkylsilane (POTS) modification achieves superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 160.25°, as demonstrated by droplet rolling experiments. Micro‐interaction of superhydrophobic properties is further investigated by force curve measurement using atomic force microscope, showing almost no nanometer water moisture on the superhydrophobic surface, but conspicuous water moisture on the control glass surface. Finally, simulated models and practical silicon crystal solar cells fabricated using the self‐cleaning glass show excellent acid rain resistance, self‐cleaning, and long service life properties, with no power conversion efficiency degeneration during a 40‐day outdoor application test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A superhydrophobic and photocatalytic composite fiber material is developed using polystyrene polydimethylsiloxane and graphitic nitride and then thoroughly characterized. SEM is used to determine the nanostructure of the fiber material, and the contact and sliding angles are measured to test the obtained fibers for their hydrophobicity. The degradation of methylene blue is used to monitor the photocatalytic activity of the created materials. This serves to create a self‐cleaning surface where hydrophilic pollutants are repelled from the surface due to the low sliding angle; the lower‐surface‐tension pollutants resist wetting the surface and can be thoroughly washed off; and photocatalytical oxidation can degrade pollutants that fully wet the fabric, allowing the surface to recover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The applications of self‐cleaning coatings on large scale are limited due to their poor durability, remnants of hazardous by‐products and lack of biocompatibility. We propose to solve this problem by developing TiO2‐ZrO2 composite‐based self cleaning coatings. In order to achieve this task another important aspect was to select biocompatible polymers poly (methyl methacrylate) and pluronic F‐127 (PF‐127) as they can enhance the self‐cleaning capability of TiO2‐ZrO2 which itself is biocompatible and endowed with anti‐bacterial capability. The selection of a preparation technique that could produce coatings mimicking the nature has also been important and hence Electrospraying technique was selected as the processing method. The samples were then characterized using various techniques like field emission scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis, and so forth to fathom the interlink between observed properties and morphology. High quality superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic films have been generated and the surfaces were modulated by the addition of tri‐block co‐polymer which was found to provide swapping of superhydrophobic nature to superhydrophilic nature. The integration of superhydrophobic, superhydrophilic, photocatalytic and antibacterial properties in the prepared microsphere coatings is a unique achievement and may interest those in the quest for self‐cleaning materials for antibacterial coatings in mitigating surgical site infections, medical implants, coronary stent surfaces, and so forth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-cleaning polymeric fibers have been successfully prepared by depositing ZnO nanoparticle onto wool and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers with good compatibility and significant photocatalytic self-cleaning activity using the sol-gel process at ambient temperature. scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis have been adopted as the characterization techniques. Transmission electron microscopy studies revealed presence of zinc oxide nanoparticles with 10-15 nm in size. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller measurement showed surface area of 48 m/g for the ZnO nanoparticles. Photocatalytic activity of the self-cleaning materials were tested by measuring the photo-assisted degradation of methylene blue (MB) and eosin yellowish (EY) under ultraviolet-visible illumination. The results indicate that both of the ZnO-coated polyacrylonitrile and ZnO-coated wool fibers acquire photocatalytic activity toward dyes degradation. The photocatalytic activity of the treated fibers is maintained upon several numbers of photodegradation cycles. This facile and cheap preparation technique can be also applied to new polymeric fabrics to produce self-cleaning materials for industrial application. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]