Researchers at the Berkeley National Laboratory of the Department of the U.S. Department of Energy (Berkeley Lab) have developed a new material that will make the smart windows more intelligent. This material, which is a thin layer of nanocrystals embedded in the glass, can dynamically change the amount of solar light as it passes through the glass.In contrast to existing technology, the coating is selectively controls the passage of light passing the light waves in the visible spectrum of light and holding at wavelengths in the near infrared (NIR), which is the solar heat carrier. Thus, the window with the new coating will help to maximize energy savings and improve healthy indoor climate.
In the United States, it is estimated that about a quarter of the total energy consumption is spent on lighting, heating and cooling of buildings. New technology of smart windows, developed by the research team led by chemist Delia Milliron, based on the electrochromic effect of metals, where a small jolt of electricity toggles between locking and material transmission of infrared sunlight. Sample built scientists is a "designer" of the electrochromic material is made of nanocrystals indium tin oxide embedded in the glass matrix of the niobium oxide. The resulting composite material combines two different, mutually independent functions - control of the visible light and control of long-wavelength infrared light. Furthermore, the same smart window can be switched to "night mode", and blocking light and heat, as well as "day mode", while this window is completely transparent.
The use of nanocrystals has allowed researchers to minimize the thickness of the coating without sacrificing its efficiency. But the main feature of the new material is that the atoms across the border layer of nanocrystals and the glass, causing the restructuring of the entire glass matrix.
Besides the production of electrochromic windows, the new technology offers the possibility of using other materials, for example for the manufacture of batteries, in which the ion transport across the electrodes causes certain difficulties.
