Silver Nanowire-PVB Composite for Reflective Heat Coating

Abstract

Automotive air conditioning (AAC) is essential, particularly in tropical countries like the Philippines, where temperatures can go beyond 40 °C during the summer. AAC system is installed for the comfort and safety of passengers. However, AAC may consume up to 30% of the fuel and increase fuel consumption by up to 20%. Consequently, increasing fuel consumption can lead to high costs and greenhouse emissions worldwide. Commercially available car tints can block harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays but selectively block IR rays which primarily cause heating. Therefore, sustainable cooling solutions must be developed. This study developed a silver nanowire (AgNW)-PVB (polyvinyl butyral) composite spray coating. The coating decreased the transmittance by at least 30% in the UV region and at least 25% in the near-infrared (NIR). Average transmittance in the visible region (Vis) is as much as 63.50% which highly depends on the concentration of PVB and AgNWs. More AgNWs decrease the transmittance at UV, Vis, and NIR regions.