Abstract Photocatalytic SiO2–TiO2 composite coatings with excellent self-cleaning properties have attracted much attention in recent years due to their promising applications in many areas such as automobile windshields, window glasses, and solar cell panel covers, etc. However, most of these coatings are of low self-cleaning capability in the visible light region due to TiO2 only absorbing ultraviolet light, which limit their practical application. Here, highly transparent coatings of the rod-like TiO2–SiO2 nanoparticles on glass substrates were prepared by a simple dip-coating process. The photocatalytic activity and self-cleaning property of the coatings were evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) and methyl stearate (MS) under visible light irradiation. It was found that the coatings exhibited ~4% enhancement in the optical transmission of glass and a good mechanical stability. The as-prepared and annealed rod-like TiO2–SiO2 nanoparticle coatings show excellent self-cleaning properties. The results mean that the coatings have a high potential for self-cleaning applications in removal of organic pollutants under visible light such as solar cell panels, architectural glasses and optical devices, etc.

中文翻译：

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在可见光下具有高性能自清洁性能的坚固 TiO2 纳米棒-SiO2 核壳涂层

摘要 具有优异自清洁性能的光催化 SiO2-TiO2 复合涂层因其在汽车挡风玻璃、车窗玻璃、太阳能电池板盖板等诸多领域的应用前景而备受关注。由于 TiO2 仅吸收紫外光，因此在可见光区具有低自洁能力，限制了其实际应用。在这里，通过简单的浸涂工艺在玻璃基板上制备了棒状 TiO2-SiO2 纳米颗粒的高度透明涂层。通过在可见光照射下光催化降解亚甲蓝（MB）和硬脂酸甲酯（MS）来评估涂层的光催化活性和自清洁性能。发现涂层在玻璃的光学透射率方面表现出约 4% 的增强和良好的机械稳定性。制备和退火的棒状 TiO2-SiO2 纳米颗粒涂层显示出优异的自清洁性能。结果表明，该涂层在去除可见光下的有机污染物（如太阳能电池板、建筑玻璃和光学器件等）方面具有很高的自清洁应用潜力。