Laminated solar control safety glass incorporating chemically deposited metal chalcogenide thin films

The feasibility of producing safety glass made from 3 mm sheet glass coated with chemically deposited CuS, ZnS-CuS, Sb2S3-CuS, and PbS-CuS thin films are presented. The coatings are produced on the sheet glass from dilute solutions containing metal complexes and a source of sulfide ions such as thiourea, thioacetamide, or thiosulfate. Films of thickness ranging from 0.05 mu m to 0.3 mu m are deposited at different temperatures, 10 degrees C - 50 degrees C, with durations of depositions of 1 h to 6 h. These coatings are laminated using commercially available poly(vinyl butyral) based laminating polymer sheets and clear sheet glass at temperatures of 120 degrees C to 140 degrees C under 10-12 kg cm(-2) pressure in an autoclave. The optical transmittance and reflectance spectra of the safety glasses show that a wide choice of solar control parameters are possible with these glazings: T-VIS, 2.5 - 45 %; R-VIS, 10 - 25 %; and shading coefficient (SC), 0.25 - 0.45.