Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Thin-Film Photothermal Materials and Their Potentials on Energy Applications

Abstract Details

2019, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Engineering and Applied Science: Materials Science.
Photothermal effect has been investigated for biomedical applications for years, especially for metallic nanoparticles, such as gold nanoparticles. However, all previous research is based on irradiation by monochromic laser and in solution system. This study initiates a different way on photothermal materials as thin film coating by multi-frequency solar light shining for energy efficient application. Fe3O4 nanoparticles has been investigated both in solution and thin film system. Their photothermal ability has been tested via both monochromic laser and simulated solar light. Fe3O4 nanoparticles have been proved to keep their LSPR effect and Mie scattering effect as thin film coating. Besides, they show promising photothermal effect by white light irradiation. Through Urbach tail plotting, surface modification to the nanoparticles has been measured; and it has been proved to greatly enhance the absorption efficiency. The band gap of Fe3O4 nanoparticles have been calculated to be ~3.1eV through Tauc plot and have been compared to reference values. Chlorophyll and copper chlorophyllin have also been tested for their photothermal effect as coatings on glass samples. Their photothermal mechanisms have been investigated through atomic level modification. The replacement of copper to magnesium in chlorophyll molecule didn’t show obvious photothermal improvement or reduction, but the fluorescence quenching by copper change the intensity of the absorption spectra. The band gap of chlorophyll and chlorophyllin has been measured to be 1.83eV and 1.87eV respectively, which indicates minor differences on their photothermal effect. An innovative idea to apply spectral selective materials as thin film coating on windows to improve the thermal insulation (U-factor and Specific Absorption Rate) via the photothermal effect have been raised and its potential has been discussed based on mechanism and experiments. All experiments show that a sufficient temperature raising on window can effectively reduce the U-factor and improve the thermal insulation of single-pane window. Thus, a spectral selective photothermal coating will be a promising solution for the Single-Pan Highly Insulating Efficient Lucid Designs program initiated by DOE.
Donglu Shi, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
David Kundrat, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Vesselin Shanov, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Julian Wang, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
129 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Zhao, Y. (2019). Thin-Film Photothermal Materials and Their Potentials on Energy Applications [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin156387491987997

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Zhao, Yuan. Thin-Film Photothermal Materials and Their Potentials on Energy Applications. 2019. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin156387491987997.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Zhao, Yuan. "Thin-Film Photothermal Materials and Their Potentials on Energy Applications." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin156387491987997

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)