PFI-TT: Energy-Efficient Smart-Privacy Windows made of Dynamic Crystals

这一创新-技术转化伙伴关系项目的更广泛影响和商业潜力包括开发廉价、节能的窗户技术和设备。这种窗户的光学光透射将在几分之一秒内通过低压电场进行切换。除了窗户，其他潜在的应用包括温室，天窗和各种电光应用的覆盖物。社会成果包括减少能源消耗，提高建筑居民的舒适度，减少能源需求，以及创造与这些新型节能窗户制造相关的新就业机会。该团队将根据项目的成果进行演示，以提高公众对节能技术重要性的认识。该项目开发的节能窗户能够通过施加低电压（约1伏）来动态控制透射光。商业和住宅窗户是损失约40%的加热/冷却能量的来源。纳米结构液晶技术有望通过控制可见光和近红外线的光透射来改善动态窗口。这种控制将通过使用液晶薄层实现，其中分散有有序的金属纳米颗粒，可以使用低压场连续旋转或切换。这个项目的主要目标是开发和测试廉价的原型。电动可切换窗户，同时解决了与切换速度和缩放其尺寸相关的技术障碍。 天窗是最初的目标市场。该团队将探索如何使用纳米粒子掺杂的液晶设计这些可切换设备，以应用于不同气候区的建筑物。 这项应用可能为其他一些依赖于中尺度电控分子和纳米颗粒组织的技术奠定基础。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact and commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project includes the development of inexpensive, energy-efficient window technologies and devices. Optical light transmission of such windows will be switchable by low-voltage electric fields within a fraction of a second. Beyond windows, other potential applications include coverings of greenhouses, skylights, and a large variety of electro-optic applications. The societal outcomes include reduction of energy consumption, improved comfort of building inhabitants, reduced energy demand, and creation of new jobs associated with manufacturing of these new breeds of energy-efficient windows. The team will utilize demonstrations based on the project’s outcomes to contribute to the general public's appreciation of the importance of the energy efficient technologies.The proposed project develops energy efficient windows capable of dynamically controlling transmitted light by applying low voltages (~1 Volt). Commercial and residential windows are the source of loss of about 40% of heating/cooling energy. The nanostructured liquid crystal technology promises to improve dynamic windows by controlling light transmission in the visible and near-infrared. This control will be achieved using a thin layer of a liquid crystal with ordered metal nanoparticles dispersed within it, which can be continuously rotated or switched using low-voltage fields. The main goal of this project is to develop and test prototypes of inexpensive. electrically-switchable windows while solving technological hurdles related to the speed of switching and scaling their dimensions. Skylights are the initial target market. The team will explore how these switchable devices can be engineered using nanoparticle-doped liquid crystals for applications in buildings within different climate zones. This application may lay the groundwork for a number of other technologies that rely on electrically-controlled molecular and nanoparticle organization at the mesoscale.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.