Optical Characterization of TiO2-bound (CuFeMnO4) Absorber Paint for Solar Thermal Applications

Abstract

A composite thin film consisting of TiO2 (binder), uniformly mixed CuFeMnO4 paint (solar absorber) was coated on textured aluminum sheets by dip coating. The film’s elemental analysis was done using energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) and the surface of the film characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Optical properties of the TiO2/CuFeMnO4 composite film were also studied using computerized double beam solid-spec 3700 DUV Shimadzu Spectrophotometer. Reflectance was obtained by spectrophotometric measurements, and thermal emmittance was determined using heat flux- based technique respectively. Reflectance measurement values less than 0.03 in the solar wavelength (290 nm < λ < 2500 nm) and low thermal emmittance less than 0.016 for temperatures between 24°C and 100°C were obtained.