Synthesis Study of Silver-Doped Zinc Oxide for Near-Infrared Shielding Applications

Undoped ZnO and Ag-doped ZnO were prepared to use as near-infrared (NIR) shielding by simple precipitation method with zinc acetate and zinc nitrate as Zn precursor and silver nitrate as Ag precursor. The Ag-doped ZnO and undoped ZnO were characterized by XRD, SEM, and UV-vis-NIR spectrophotometer. The NIR reflectance performance reveals that Ag-doping improves the NIR shielding and optical property of pure ZnO. The 10 mol% Ag loading shows the lowest reflection in the visible region of about 15% and the highest reflection in the NIR region of about 50%. It not only shows the best NIR reflection but also exhibits the best thermal insulation. It reduces the inner temperature of the in-lab setup to mimic a house by 7.5°C when compared to the uncoated glass window. It is concluded that 10 mol% Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles can result in UV-NIR shielding coatings.