PFI-TT: Smart windows for on-demand control of solar heat and daylight

这个创新技术转化伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过使建筑窗户和汽车玻璃“智能”并能够按需控制热量和采光，从而彻底改变它们。自然光可以改善健康，并可以减少人工照明的能源消耗。正在开发的玻璃将在需要时使其颜色变暗，以避免不舒服的眩光，同时保持视野。阳光也以热量的形式将能量带入建筑物和汽车，尤其是通过天窗。虽然太阳能加热可以在寒冷的日子里提高能源性能，但正在开发的智能玻璃还可以阻止不必要的加热，以减少空调所需的能源。为了实现能源效率的显著提高，智能玻璃技术必须广泛部署，这需要低成本制造。通过在大面积的玻璃或塑料上涂上油墨中的活性物质，可以实现可扩展的、低成本的加工。通过控制光和热，实现低成本制造，该项目将通过提高舒适度和减少不必要的能源消耗来重塑窗户的功能和性能。拟议的项目将解决现有智能窗户的性能限制，通过低压控制器分别控制太阳能热增益和按需采光。该项目将进一步大幅降低智能窗户的制造成本，因为它允许基于溶液的涂层，而不需要高能量的加工步骤。氧化铌纳米晶体将被涂覆在玻璃和塑料薄膜上，以开发和验证刚性和柔性电致变色器件的性能。这些原型将展示建筑天窗和窗户以及汽车玻璃应用的可行性，以提高能源性能和舒适度。为了克服技术开发和部署的障碍，项目团队将开发一种聚合物电解质配方，在弯曲过程中提供足够的机械稳定性，以避免电气短路，同时保持快速的光开关和开关循环稳定性。透明导电基板将被选择和验证，在开关过程中支持均匀的颜色，允许进入高红外透射状态，并在薄膜加工和器件组装期间保持良好的导电性。建立样品对紫外线照射和热循环的环境稳定性。通过达到性能和稳定性里程碑，该项目将实现这种双频智能窗口技术的商业潜力。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to revolutionize building windows and automotive glass by making them “smart” and able to control heat and daylighting on-demand. Natural lighting improves well-being and can reduce energy consumption for artificial lighting. The glass under development will darken its tint when needed to avoid uncomfortable glare while maintaining the view. Sunlight also brings energy in the form of heat into buildings and cars, especially through sunroofs. While solar heating can improve energy performance on cold days, the smart glass under development can also block unwanted heating to reduce energy required for air conditioning. To achieve significant gains in energy efficiency, the smart glass technology must be broadly deployed, which requires manufacturing at low-cost. Scalable, low-cost processing will be achieved by coating the active materials from inks over large areas of glass or plastic. By controlling both light and heat, and enabling low-cost manufacturing, the project will reshape the functionality and performance of windows by enhancing comfort and reducing unnecessary energy consumption.The proposed project will address performance limitations of existing smart windows by separately controlling solar heat gain and daylighting on demand with a low-voltage controller. The project will further enable a dramatic reduction in manufacturing cost of smart windows by allowing solution-based coatings with no high energy processing steps. Nanocrystals of niobium oxide will be coated onto glass and plastic films to develop and validate the performance of rigid and flexible electrochromic devices. These prototypes will demonstrate feasibility for building skylights and windows, and automotive glass applications to improve energy performance and comfort. To overcome barriers to technology development and deployment, the project team will develop a polymer electrolyte formulation that provides sufficient mechanical stability during bending to avoid electrical short circuits while also maintaining rapid optical switching and on-off cycling stability. Transparent conducting substrates will be selected and validated that support uniform coloration during switching, allow access to a high infrared transmissive state, and remain well-conducting during film processing and device assembly. The environmental stability of the prototypes to UV exposure and thermal cycling will be established. By reaching performance and stability milestones, the project will enable realization of the commercial potential of this dual-band smart window technology.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.