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Thermochromic VO2−SiO2 Nanocomposite Smart Window Coatings with Narrow Phase Transition Hysteresis and Transition Gradient Width

Schläefer, J; Sol, C; Li, T; Malarde, D; Portnoi, M; Macdonald, TJ; Laney, SK; ... Papakonstantinou, I; + view all (2019) Thermochromic VO2−SiO2 Nanocomposite Smart Window Coatings with Narrow Phase Transition Hysteresis and Transition Gradient Width. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells , 200 , Article 109944. 10.1016/j.solmat.2019.109944. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

Thermochromic vanadium dioxide (VO2) window coatings hold the promise of reducing the energy consumption of the built environment by passively regulating solar heat gain in response to changing conditions. Composite materials with embedded VO2 particles have shown greatly improved optical performances compared with thin films, however they typically exhibit broadened phase transition hysteresis and gradient widths, which negatively impacts the overall performance. Here, we present a scalable one-step solution based synthesis for a thermochromic smart window coating based on a vanadium dioxide sol-gel containing silica (SiO2 nanoparticles. We compare the performance of our nanoparticle composite with thin film VO2 along with composites formed by mixing VO2 and SiO2 sol-gels and find that both composites achieve an acceptable visible transmittance ( 50%) along with a comparable and competitive solar modulation (12.5% and 16.8% respectively), roughly double that of the plain VO2 film (6.7%). However, our SiO2 nanoparticle containing composite also benefits from a narrow transition hysteresis and gradient width (9.4 ∘C and 2.9 ∘C respectively). We predict that this method may subsequently be combined with metal ion doping to control both the optical and phase transition characteristics to achieve composite films with high overall energy saving performances.

Type: Article
Title: Thermochromic VO2−SiO2 Nanocomposite Smart Window Coatings with Narrow Phase Transition Hysteresis and Transition Gradient Width
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2019.109944
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2019.109944
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: vanadium dioxide, thermochromic, energy-efficient glazing, smart windows, nanocomposites, optical coatings, silica nanoparticles, thin films, dynamic solar control coatings
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Chemical Engineering
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Electronic and Electrical Eng
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10080718
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