Colored glass structural color ink suitable for photovoltaic module and preparation and application of colored glass structural color ink

Abstract

The invention discloses colored glass structural color ink suitable for a photovoltaic module, a preparation method of the colored glass structural color ink and application of the colored glass structural color ink in a colored photovoltaic module. The structural color ink is prepared from the following raw materials in parts by mass: 5 to 15 parts of structural color toner, 25 to 50 parts of resin, 20 to 40 parts of solvent, 0.5 to 3 parts of dispersing agent, 0.1 to 1 part of defoaming agent, 0.1 to 1 part of flatting agent, 1 to 5 parts of adhesion promoter, 0.5 to 2 parts of ultraviolet light absorber and 0.5 to 2 parts of hindered amine light stabilizer, the structural color toner is photonic crystal powder, and the particle size of the structural color toner is smaller than 10 microns; the mass ratio of the organic silicon modified acrylic resin in the resin is not less than 50%. The preparation method comprises the following steps: uniformly mixing the resin, the solvent, the ultraviolet light absorber, the hindered amine light stabilizer, the dispersing agent and the defoaming agent, adding other raw materials except the structural color toner, uniformly mixing, adding the structural color toner, and uniformly dispersing to obtain the structural color ink.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of inks, and more specifically to a colored glass structural color ink suitable for photovoltaic modules, its preparation method, and its application. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) and the growing demand for modern architectural aesthetics, the market has placed higher requirements on the appearance of photovoltaic modules. Traditionally, coloring photovoltaic glass has been achieved primarily through two methods: colored encapsulant films or colored coatings. Colored encapsulant films suffer from fading and light absorption, significantly reducing the efficiency of photovoltaic modules; while colored coatings are difficult to control in terms of thickness and have uneven color.

[0003] In recent years, structural color inks, as an emerging coloring technology, have shown great application potential in the field of photovoltaic glass decoration because they present colors through interference and diffraction between microscopic physical structures and light. They have advantages such as bright colors, environmental friendliness, and strong metallic texture.

[0004] Patent document CN110684395B discloses structural color ink, its preparation method, and its application. The pigments in this structural color ink include photochromic pigments and pearlescent pigments. The printed samples exhibit high color purity, color-changing effects, and color-changing and shimmering effects with varying angles. Although the ink formulation is disclosed, the pearlescent powder obscures the color, resulting in low transmittance and affecting the power generation efficiency of photovoltaic modules. Patent document CN115044243A discloses colored ink, colored photovoltaic glass, colored photovoltaic modules, and their preparation method. The pigments in this colored ink include pearlescent pigments, multilayer metal oxide interference pigments, and photonic crystal pigments. However, it still suffers from low transmittance, affecting light energy utilization.

[0005] Currently, structural color inks face two main problems. Firstly, their weather resistance and mechanical properties are insufficient. Photovoltaic modules are exposed to the outdoors for extended periods, enduring prolonged UV radiation, high temperature and humidity, thermal cycling, and wind and sand erosion. Many structural color inks on the market utilize resin systems with weak UV aging resistance. Under long-term UV exposure, they are prone to yellowing and chalking, leading to ink layer failure, color fading, and even peeling, severely impacting the lifespan and appearance stability of photovoltaic modules. Furthermore, these resin systems generally have low hardness after film formation and poor scratch resistance, affecting not only aesthetics but also potentially damaging the integrity of the ink layer and accelerating its aging process. Secondly, there is the issue of balancing visible light transmittance and color effect. Photovoltaic modules must maximize their power generation efficiency while achieving aesthetic appeal. To achieve vibrant color effects, existing structural color inks often require increased pigment content or the use of resins with strong hiding power. This significantly reduces the overall light transmittance of the ink layer, locally affecting the absorption of light energy by the solar cells, thereby reducing the overall output power of the module. Conversely, pursuing high transmittance at the expense of reducing pigment concentration will result in insufficient color saturation, insignificant coloring effect, and failure to meet architectural aesthetic requirements.

[0006] Therefore, it is of great significance to develop structural color inks that have more vivid and saturated color-changing effects than existing inks, have higher hardness and weather resistance, and can maintain extremely high visible light transmittance. Summary of the Invention

[0007] To address the aforementioned technical problems and shortcomings in this field, the present invention provides a colored glass structural color ink suitable for photovoltaic modules, its preparation method, and its application. The structural color ink of the present invention can effectively absorb ultraviolet light, possesses good weather resistance, high hardness, high light transmittance, and high color-changing effect, exhibiting bright and saturated colors, and demonstrating significant advantages and potential in screen printing.

[0008] The specific technical solution is as follows: In a first aspect, the present invention provides a structural color ink, comprising, by weight, the following raw materials: 5-15 parts (e.g., 10 parts, etc.) of structural color powder, 25-50 parts (e.g., 31 parts, 40 parts, etc.) of resin, 20-40 parts (e.g., 21 parts, etc.) of solvent, 0.5-3 parts (e.g., 1 part, etc.) of dispersant, 0.1-1 part of defoamer, 0.1-1 part of leveling agent, 1-5 parts of adhesion promoter, 0.5-2 parts of ultraviolet absorber, and 0.5-2 parts of hindered amine light stabilizer; The structural color pigment is a photonic crystal powder with a particle size of less than 10 μm; The mass percentage of organosilicon-modified acrylic resin in the resin is not less than 50%, for example, 100%. The weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of the organosilicon-modified acrylic resin is 5000-50000 g / mol; In the organosilicon-modified acrylic resin, silicon exists in the form of a siloxane network structure. The silicon content in the silicone-modified acrylic resin is 2%-15%, for example, 5%.

[0009] The presence of the siloxane network structure improves the material's weather resistance, water resistance, and chemical corrosion resistance. Furthermore, the alkoxysilane groups can chemically react with various substrate surfaces to form strong bonds, working synergistically with the siloxane network structure to give the material both flexibility and hardness.

[0010] In some embodiments, the structural color ink further includes at least one of acrylic resin, polyurethane resin, and polyacrylic resin.

[0011] In some embodiments, the solvent of the structural color ink includes one or more of ethylene glycol, isopropanol, isobutanol, dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether, diethylene glycol butyl ether, dipropylene glycol monobutyl ether, tripropylene glycol methyl ether, and propylene glycol methyl ether acetate.

[0012] The dispersant in the structural color ink ensures the full dispersion of structural color pigment particles in the ink, prevents them from agglomerating and settling, improves the stability of the ink, and maintains the regularity and periodicity of the structural color ink structure.

[0013] In some embodiments, the structural color ink includes a wetting and dispersing agent as the dispersant.

[0014] In some embodiments, the dispersant in the structural color ink can be a commercially available wetting and dispersing agent or a super-dispersant suitable for solvent-based coating systems. It can enhance the dispersibility and particle size stability of the pigment in the ink system. It can be one or a mixture of several of the following in any proportion: DISPERBYK-166, DISPERBYK-163 (hereinafter referred to as BYK-163), DISPERBYK-181 (hereinafter referred to as BYK-181) produced by BYK-Chemie GmbH, Germany, and Solsperse 8000 or Solsperse 20000 produced by The Lubrizol Corporation, USA. Preferably, at least one of DISPERBYK-163 and DISPERBYK-181 is selected.

[0015] In some embodiments, the defoamer in the structural color ink includes at least one of an oil-based defoamer and a non-silicone defoamer.

[0016] In some embodiments, the defoamer in the structural color ink may be one or a mixture of several of the following in any proportion: DF-803, DF-144, DF-613 produced by Dongguan Defeng Chemical Co., Ltd., and SN-6368A, SN-6368B, SN-5257A produced by Shanghai Shenzhu Chemical Technology Co., Ltd., preferably at least one of DF-803 and SN-5257A.

[0017] In some embodiments, the structural color ink includes at least one of silicone leveling agents and acrylate leveling agents.

[0018] In some embodiments, the adhesion promoter of the structural color ink includes at least one of silane coupling agents and titanate coupling agents.

[0019] In some embodiments, the ultraviolet absorber in the structural color ink includes benzotriazole ultraviolet absorbers.

[0020] In some embodiments, the hindered amine light stabilizer in the structural color ink includes a liquid hindered amine light stabilizer.

[0021] In some embodiments, the structural color ink, the ultraviolet absorber, and the hindered amine light stabilizer may be selected from UV-384-2 and UV-292 produced by RIASORB and UV384-2 and UV-292 produced by Fujian Disheng Technology Co., Ltd.

[0022] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a method for preparing the structural color ink described in the first aspect, comprising: mixing resin, solvent, dispersant and defoamer, adding other raw materials other than structural color powder and mixing them, then adding structural color powder and dispersing them evenly to obtain the structural color ink.

[0023] Thirdly, the present invention provides the application of the structural color ink described in the first aspect in colored photovoltaic modules.

[0024] Furthermore, the colored photovoltaic module includes colored photovoltaic glass, and the structural color ink is applied to the colored photovoltaic glass.

[0025] Furthermore, the method for preparing the colored photovoltaic glass includes: screen printing the structural color ink onto the glass body, followed by drying, sintering and tempering to obtain the colored photovoltaic glass.

[0026] In some embodiments, the mesh count of the screen printing is 100 to 250 mesh.

[0027] The structural color ink of this invention is applicable to conventional printing methods such as flatbed printing, gravure printing, letterpress printing, and screen printing. The printing substrate can be glass, metal plate, ceramic, photovoltaic glass, or other substrates.

[0028] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: The structural color ink of the present invention, after printing, has a high light transmittance, high weather resistance, and high hardness. At the same time, the photonic structure coating formed produces color effects as the viewing angle changes.

[0029] The structural color ink of this invention improves the UV resistance of printed materials by adding ultraviolet absorbers.

[0030] The method for preparing structural color inks described in this invention is green and environmentally friendly, low in cost, and simple and mild, with broad production prospects. Attached Figure Description

[0031] Figure 1 This is a screen printing effect diagram of structural color ink in Example 1.

[0032] Figure 2 Metallographic photograph of structural color ink in Example 1.

[0033] Figure 3 This is a screen printing effect diagram of structural color ink in Example 2.

[0034] Figure 4 This is a metallographic photograph of the structural color ink from Example 2.

[0035] Figure 5 This is a comparison example 1, showing the effect of screen printing with structural color inks.

[0036] Figure 6 This is a comparison example 2, showing the screen printing effect of pearlescent ink. Detailed Implementation

[0037] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Operating methods not specifically specified in the following embodiments are generally performed under conventional conditions or as recommended by the manufacturer.

[0038] Example 1: A method for preparing structural color ink with structural color optical variable properties includes the following steps: a. Mix the silicone-modified acrylic resin, dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether, UV-292, UV-384-2, BYK-181, and SN-5257A together and stir for 20 minutes to ensure uniform mixing; b. Add silane coupling agent and organosilicon leveling agent and stir for 20 minutes to mix evenly; c. Add structural color powder and disperse it evenly at high speed to obtain structural color ink.

[0039] The mass fractions of each raw material are as follows: 40 parts of silicone-modified acrylic resin, 20 parts of dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether, 0.5 parts of UV-292, 0.5 parts of UV-384-2, 1 part of BYK-181, 1 part of SN-5257A, 1 part of silane coupling agent, 0.1 parts of silicone leveling agent, and 10 parts of structural color powder.

[0040] The organosilicon-modified acrylic resin is an acrylate copolymer containing an alkoxysilane structure, with a weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of 5000 g / mol and a silicon content of 5%.

[0041] The structural color pigment is B601 photonic crystal powder from Fusion Light Nanoparticles, with a particle size of less than 10 μm.

[0042] The structural color ink obtained in the above embodiments is printed on the substrate using screen printing. After the ink is dried, it exhibits structural color photochromic properties, thus obtaining a printed product with structural color photochromic properties. Figure 1 The screen printing effect of the structural color ink in Example 1 is shown. Figure 2 Metallographic photograph of structural color ink in Example 1.

[0043] Example 2: A method for preparing structural color ink with structural color optical variable properties includes the following steps: a. Mix the silicone-modified acrylic resin, acrylic resin, diethylene glycol butyl ether, UV-292, UV-384-2, BYK-163, and DF-803 together and stir for 20 minutes to ensure uniform mixing; b. Add silane coupling agent and organosilicon leveling agent and stir for 20 minutes to mix evenly; c. Add structural color powder and disperse it evenly at high speed to obtain structural color ink.

[0044] The mass fractions of each raw material are as follows: 20 parts of silicone-modified acrylic resin, 20 parts of acrylic resin, 20 parts of diethylene glycol butyl ether, 0.5 parts of UV-292, 0.5 parts of UV-384-2, 1 part of BYK-163, 1 part of DF-803, 1 part of silane coupling agent, 0.1 parts of silicone leveling agent, and 10 parts of structural color powder.

[0045] The organosilicon-modified acrylic resin is an acrylate copolymer containing an alkoxysilane structure, with a weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of 50,000 g / mol and a silicon content of 15%.

[0046] The structural color pigment is B601 photonic crystal powder from Fusion Light Nanoparticles, with a particle size of less than 10 μm.

[0047] The structural color ink obtained in the above embodiments is printed on the substrate using screen printing. After the ink is dried, it exhibits structural color photochromic properties, thus obtaining a printed product with structural color photochromic properties. Figure 3 The screen printing effect of structural color ink in Example 2 is shown. Figure 4 This is a metallographic photograph of the structural color ink from Example 2.

[0048] Comparative Example 1: In this comparative example, all the resins used in Example 2 were replaced with acrylic resins, while the rest of the formulation and process remained the same. Figure 5 The screen printing effect of structural color inks in Comparative Example 1 is shown. (Comparison) Figure 3 and Figure 5 As can be seen, changes in the resin can affect the color of the structural color ink after screen printing.

[0049] Comparative Example 2: In this comparative example, the structural color powder used in Example 2 was replaced with Guangxi Seven-Color Pearl Powder KC221, while the rest of the formula and process remained unchanged. Figure 6 The screen printing effect of pearlescent ink in Comparative Example 2 is shown.

[0050] Table 1 shows the performance of the inks in each example and comparative example.

[0051] Table 1 As shown in Table 1, structural color inks using modified resins exhibit better adhesion, higher light transmittance, and higher hardness than those using conventional resins; inks formulated with structural color modifiers also show better transmittance than those formulated with pearlescent powder. Figure 3 and Figure 6 The comparison shows that the inks formulated with structural tones have better gloss and color vibrancy than those formulated with pearlescent powder.

[0052] Furthermore, it should be understood that after reading the above description of the present invention, those skilled in the art can make various alterations or modifications to the present invention, and these equivalent forms also fall within the scope defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A structural color ink, characterized by, The raw material composition includes, in mass parts: structural color toner 5-15 parts, resin 25-50 parts, solvent 20-40 parts, dispersant 0.5-3 parts, defoaming agent 0.1-1 part, leveling agent 0.1-1 part, adhesion promoter 1-5 parts, ultraviolet absorber 0.5-2 parts, hindered amine light stabilizer 0.5-2 parts; The structural color toner is a photonic crystal powder, and the particle size of the granules is less than 10 μm; The mass percentage of the silicone-modified acrylic resin in the resin is not less than 50%; The weight average molecular weight of the silicone-modified acrylic resin is 5000-50000 g / mol; The silicon in the silicone-modified acrylic resin exists in the form of a siloxane network structure; The mass content of silicon in the silicone-modified acrylic resin is 2%-15%.

2. The structural color ink of claim 1, wherein The resin further includes at least one of an acrylic resin, a polyurethane resin, and a polyacrylic resin.

3. The structural color ink of claim 1, wherein The solvent includes one or two or more of ethylene glycol, isopropyl alcohol, isobutyl alcohol, dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether, diethylene glycol butyl ether, dipropylene glycol monobutyl ether, tripropylene glycol methyl ether, and propylene glycol methyl ether acetate; The dispersant includes a wet dispersant; The defoaming agent includes at least one of an oil-based defoaming agent and a non-silicon defoaming agent; The leveling agent includes at least one of a silicone leveling agent and an acrylic ester leveling agent; The adhesion promoter includes at least one of a silane coupling agent and a titanate coupling agent; The ultraviolet absorber includes a benzotriazole ultraviolet absorber; The hindered amine light stabilizer includes a liquid hindered amine light stabilizer.

4. The method of producing a structural color ink according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by, The method includes: The resin, solvent, ultraviolet absorber, hindered amine light stabilizer, dispersant, and defoaming agent are mixed uniformly, and then other raw materials except the structural color toner are added and mixed uniformly, and then the structural color toner is added and uniformly dispersed to obtain the structural color ink.

5. Application of the structural color ink according to any one of claims 1-3 to a color photovoltaic assembly.

6. Use according to claim 5, characterized in that, The color photovoltaic assembly includes color photovoltaic glass, and the structural color ink is applied to the color photovoltaic glass.

7. Use according to claim 6, characterized in that, The preparation method of the color photovoltaic glass includes: screen printing the structural color ink onto a glass body, and then performing drying, sintering, and tempering to obtain the color photovoltaic glass.

8. Use according to claim 7, characterized in that, The screen mesh number of the screen printing is 100-250.

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