Smart Thermally Switchable Liquid Crystal Window

Advanced Photonics Research

Deng-Ke Yang¹  Yingfei Jiang¹  Meng Wang¹  Yaqing Zhou¹ 

[1] Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program Department of Physics and Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute Kent State University Kent OH 44242 USA;

关键词: liquid crystals;    radiant energy flow control;    smart windows;    surface anchoring;    thermal switching;   

DOI  :  10.1002/adpr.202000156

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Global warming, due to the consumption of fossil energy, is one of the biggest challenges in recent days. Air conditioning (cooling and heating) of office and residential buildings is one of the largest energy consumptions. One way to reduce the energy consumption is to use switchable architectural windows, which can control radiant energy flow. Herein, a smart thermally switchable window with transmittance sensitive to ambient temperature is reported. This smart window is based on a liquid crystal (LC) whose orientation varies with temperature. At temperatures lower than a low threshold temperature, such as in winter, the LC orients perpendicular to the window substrate, and the window is transparent and lets sunlight pass it to warm interiors of buildings. At temperatures higher than a high threshold temperature, such as in summer, the LC orients parallel to the substrate. The window becomes absorbing and blocks sunlight, resulting in a reduction of the solar heating. When temperature varies between these two thresholds, the window has gray‐level transmittances. It does not use electricity and is very energy‐saving, and has an immense potential in applications of smart architectural and vehicle windows.

【 授权许可】

Unknown