Improving the performance of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) system using Ti/AlN/SiO2 thin film as an alternative renewable energy source

Authors

  • Mutawalli Bello
    School of Science Federal College of Education, Yola
  • Idris Muhammad Sani
    Department of Physics, Federal College of Education, Kano, P.M.B 3045, Kano State Nigeria
  • Sani Muhammad
    Department of Physics, Federal University of Lafia, P.M.B 146, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Keywords:

Sputtering, Modified stainless steel substrate, Solar absorptance, Thermal emittance

Abstract

Successful utilization of bigger solar power systems especially concentrating solar power (CSP) as an alternative renewable energy requires not only spectrally selective absorber coatings but also, striking a balance between solar absorptance and emittance at the solar (300 nm-2500 nm) and infrared regions (>2500 nm) of solar spectrum, respectively. In the present study, we developed an ultrathin (~100 nm) tandem coating of Ti and AlN with SiO2 as antireflection layer using magnetron sputtering system at room temperature on modified stainless steel (SS) substrate. The coating was characterized using FESEM, AFM, XRD, UV-Vis-NIR, and FTIR. 0.95 and 0.13 were respectively achieved as solar absorptance and thermal emittance. The multilayer coating exhibited good thermally stability after annealing at 500 oC in air for 2 hours. Though, optical properties of the coatings after annealing at 600 oC, was found to degrade followed by decline in absorptance and emittance from 0.95 to 0.92 and 0.13 to 0.24 respectively. These changes are associated with the decline in roughness of the coating as probed from AFM analysis. The present results show potential application of this coating in high temperature CSP system.

Dimensions

Al-rjoub, A., Rebouta, L., Costa, P., Cunha, N. F., Lanceros-mendez, S., Barradas, N. P., Alves, E. (2019). Applied Surface Science The e ff ect of increasing Si content in the absorber layers (CrAlSiNx/CrAlSiOyNx) of solar selective absorbers upon their selectivity and thermal stability. Applied Surface Science Journal, 481 1096–1102.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2019.03.208

Al-Salman, H. S., Abdullah, M. J. (2013). RF sputtering enhanced the morphology and photoluminescence of multi-oriented ZnO nanostructure produced by chemical vapor deposition. J. Alloys Compd., 547 132–137

Bello, M., Shanmugan, S. (2022). Investigation of in-plane heat distribution, thermal stability and mechanical properties of SS-(Fe3O4)/Ti/AlN/Ti/SiO2 as absorber coatings for efficient high temperature concentrated solar power systems. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 901 163576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2021.163576

Bello, M., Shanmugan, S. (2022). High-temperature AlN and Ti multilayer cermet for solar absorber coating : structural and optical properties. Indian Journal of Physics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12648-022-02334-y

Bello, M., Subramani, S. (2022). Growth , characterisation and thermal stability of AlN/Ti/AlN/SiO2 multilayer selective solar absorber coating for high temperature applications. International Journal of Nanotechnology. 19 (2/3/4/5) 252–264.

Bello, M., Subramani, S., Marzaini, M. M, B. (2020). The impact of Fe3O4 on the performance of ultrathin Ti/AlN/Ti tandem coating on stainless-steel for solar selective absorber application. Results in Physics, 103582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2020.103582

Chang, Y., Yang, Y., Weng, S. (2020). Surface & Coatings Technology E ff ect of interlayer design on the mechanical properties of AlTiCrN and multilayered AlTiCrN/TiSiN hard coatings. Surface & Coatings Technology, 389.

Chaoying, L., Zhiqiang, S., Feng, H., Hebin, Z., Juanrong, M. (2021). Design, synthesis and thermal stability study on graded TiNxOy solar selective absorbing coating fabricated by pulsed DC reactive magnetron sputtering. Materials Characterization, 173 110921. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchar.2021.110921

Chen, J., Wang, Y. G., Li, Z. Q., Wang, C., Li, J. F., Gu, Y. J. (2009). Synthesis and characterization of magnetic nanocomposites with Fe3O4 core. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 152. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/152/1/012041

Farooq, M., Lee, Z. H. (2003). Computations of the optical properties of metal/insulator-composites for solar selective absorbers. Renewable Energy, 28(9), 1421–1431. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-1481(02)00033-2.

Feng, J., Zhang, S., Liu, X., Yu, H., Ding, H., Tian, Y., Ouyang, J. (2015). Solar selective absorbing coatings TiN/TiSiN/SiN prepared on stainless steel substrates. Vacuum, 121, 135–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vacuum.2015.08.013

Guo, H. X., Yu, D. M., He, C. Y., Qiu, X. L., Zhao, S. S., Liu, G., Gao, X. H. (2021). Double-layer solar absorber coating based on high entropy ceramic AlCrMoTaTiN: Structure, optical properties and failure mechanism. Surfaces and Interfaces, 24 101062. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfin.2021.101062.

Miao Du, Lei Hao, Xiaopeng Liu, Lijun Jiang, Shumao Wang, Fang Lv, Zhinian Li, J. M. (2011). Microstructure and thermal stability of Ti1-xAlxN coatings deposited by reactive magnetron co-sputtering. Physics Procedia, 18 222–226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phpro.2011.06.085.

Niranjan, K., Kondaiah, P., Srinivas, G., Barshilia, H. C. (2019). Optimization of W/WAlSiN/SiON/SiO2 tandem absorber consisting of double layer anti-reflection coating with broadband absorption in the solar spectrum region. Applied Surface Science, 496 143651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2019.143651.

Ranjith, K. P., Basavaraju, U., Barshilia, H. C., Basu, B. (2021). Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells On the origin of spectrally selective high solar absorptance of TiB2-based tandem absorber with double layer antireflection coatings. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 220.

Rojas, T. C., Caro, A., Lozano, G., S, J. C. (2021). Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells High-temperature solar-selective coatings based on Cr(Al)N. Part 1 : Microstructure and optical properties of CrNy and Cr1-xAlx Ny films prepared by DC/HiPIMS. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells Journal, 223.

Jian-Ping, M., Rui-rui, G., Hu, L., Lu-ming, Z., Xiao-peng, L., Zhuo, L. (2009). Microstructure and thermal stability of Cu/Zr0.3Al0.7N/Zr0.2Al0.8N/Al34O60N6 cermet-based solar selective absorbing coatings. Applied Surface Science Journal, 255, 7918–7924.

Song, P., Wu, Y., Wang, L., Sun, Y., Ning, Y., Zhang, Y., Dai, B., Tomasella, E., Bousquet, A., Wang, C. (2017). The investigation of thermal stability of Al/NbMoN/NbMoON/SiO2 solar selective absorbing coating. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 171 253–257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2017.06.056

Wang, X., Luo, T., Li, Q., Cheng, X., Li, K. (2019). Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells High performance aperiodic metal-dielectric multilayer stacks for solar energy thermal conversion. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 191 372–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2018.12.006

Wattoo, A. G., Xu, C., Yang, L., Ni, C., Yu, C., Nie, X., Yan, M., Mao, S., Song, Z. (2016). Design, fabrication and thermal stability of spectrally selective TiAlN/SiO2 tandem absorber. Solar Energy, 138, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2016.08.053

Wen, H., Wang, W., Wang, W., Su, J., Lei, T., Wang, C. (2019). Enhanced spectral absorption of bilayer WOx/SiO2 solar selective absorber coatings via low vacuum pre-annealing. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 202(May), 110152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2019.110152

Y. Dong-Mei , Cheng-Yu He, Xiao-Li Qiu, Shuai-Sheng Zhao, Hui-Xia Guo, Gang Liu, X-H G. (2021). A multilayer solar absorber coating based on NbMoTaW refractory high entropy alloy: Optical properties, thermal stability and failure mechanism. Materials Today Energy. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.mtener.2021.100789.

Published

2023-07-03

How to Cite

Bello, M., Sani, I. M., & Muhammad, S. (2023). Improving the performance of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) system using Ti/AlN/SiO2 thin film as an alternative renewable energy source. Nigerian Journal of Physics, 32(1), 76-83. https://njp.nipngr.org/index.php/njp/article/view/23

Issue

Vol. 32 No. 1 (2023): Nigerian Journal of Physics - Vol. 32 No. 1

Section

Articles
Copyright & Licensing

How to Cite

Bello, M., Sani, I. M., & Muhammad, S. (2023). Improving the performance of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) system using Ti/AlN/SiO2 thin film as an alternative renewable energy source. Nigerian Journal of Physics, 32(1), 76-83. https://njp.nipngr.org/index.php/njp/article/view/23