Controlled Texturing of Aluminum Sheet for Solar Energy Applications
View/ Open
Date
2015Author
Ayieko, Charles O
Musembi, Robinson J
Ogacho, Alex A
Aduda, Bernard O
Muthoka, Boniface M
Jain, Pushpendra K
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Aluminum sheets were polished to reduce ruggedness and then textured in varying acid-ethanol
concentration etchant to form pores. The textured surface was characterized structurally by using
X-ray diffraction (XRD)which revealed aluminum crystallographic planes (1 1 1), (2 0 0), (2 2 0)
and (3 1 1). Its morphology was studied by using energy dispersive X-ray (EDX)and scanning
electron microscope (SEM)that confirmed purity of aluminum sheet to be 99.66% at. Reflectance
of textured and plain aluminum sheet was analyzed by spectrophotometric measurements which
showed that texturing reduced the reflectance of the polished surface by 26% in the UV-VIS-NIR
spectrum of solar radiation. With reduced reflectance of the textured aluminum sheet, it was applicable
for solar radiation absorption
Publisher
University of Nairobi