Sprayed Cuo Film On Glass And Aluminium Substrates For Photothermal Application

Spray pyrolysis technique was used to prepare thin solid films of CuO as an absorber on glass substrates. The starting salts were either copper chloride anhydrous or copper acetate monohydrate. XRD. SEM. transmittance. and specular and diffuse reflectance measurements diagnosed the resultant films. The film thickness was measured by weight and stylus methods. It is found that there is no noticeable difference between the obtained values by the two methods. The film morphology and composition were carefully optimized, so that the film was highly absorbing over the majority of the solar spectrum and transparent in the infrared region. The CuO films with such optimized properties were deposited on aluminium sheet to achieve low emittance. Preliminary test was carried out to determine the performance of the prepared CuO film, relative to commercially matt black paint. It is found that our deposited CuO film has retained the absorbed heat for a larger period of time.