Research Progress of Photo-/Electro-Driven Thermochromic Smart Windows

Abstract

Thermochromic smart windows can automatically control solar radiation according to the ambient temperature. Compared with photochromic and electrochromic smart windows, they have a stronger applicability and lower energy consumption, and have a wide range of application prospects in the field of building energy efficiency. At present, aiming at the challenge of the high transition temperature of thermochromic smart windows, a large amount of innovative research has been carried out via the principle that thermochromic materials can be driven to change their optical performance by photothermal or electrothermal effects at room temperature. Based on this, the research progress of photo- and electro-driven thermochromic smart windows is summarized from VO2-based composites, hydrogels and liquid crystals, and it is pointed out that there are two main development trends of photo-/electro-driven thermochromic smart windows. One is exploring the diversified combination methods of photothermal materials and thermochromic materials, and the other is developing low-cost large-area heating electrodes.

The Effect of Smart Colored Windows on Visual Performance of Buildings

“…A literature review of the most recent studies on smart windows is summarized in Table 1 . Although the majority of studies examine the influence of thermochromic [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26], electrochromic [27][28][29][30], and gasochromic coatings [31][32][33] on building energy consumption, CO 2 emission, heading, and cooling load [34][35][36], only a few studies has focused on the photochromic coating and its application in the built environment [14][15][16][17][18]. Additionally, among studies of smart windows with photochromic coatings, the effect of such coating on occupants' visual comfort has not been adequately explored.…”

Thermochromic Smart Windows Assisted by Photothermal Nanomaterials

“…The percentage of energy lost from windows directly or indirectly is 60%. Therefore, scholars have invented a variety of smart windows [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ] to improve the energy-saving effect of building windows.…”

Flexible thermochromic fabrics enabling dynamic colored display

“…Due to the recent development in artificial intelligence, it is important to realize dynamic flexible Pan Li, Zhihui Sun and Rui Wang contributed equally to this work interactive display by combining flexible color-changeable fiber technology [15] and intelligent interaction technology. Dynamic flexible interactive display may find applications in camouflage [16], wearable displays [17], vision sensors [18][19][20], temperature sensors [21], health detection, smart windows [22], tactile logic and many other fields [23].…”