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Thermo-Responsive Smart Window Coupled with Heat Storage Effect
Tianle Cheng1, Xusheng Zhang1,2, Zeyu Niu1,2
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Full Spectral Solar Electricity Generation (FSSEG), Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), No. 1088, Xueyuan Rd., Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China.
Abstract:
Thermo-responsive smart windows, despite their ability to dynamically modulate solar transmittance, inevitably reject and waste a significant portion of solar energy, which limits their application potential in carbon-neutral buildings. Here, a dual-layer thermo-responsive smart window (DLTS) is reported that integrates optical regulation with solar heat storage, transforming smart windows from passive light modulators into active energy management systems. DLTS comprises a thermochromic poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM) layer and a controllable supercooled calcium chloride hexahydrate (CCH) phase-change layer. By use of dimethylacetamide (DMA) and tartaric acid (TA), the thermo-responsive temperature (Tr) of PNIPAM can be adjusted up or down successively from 7 to 70 °C, which is the broadest range reported. Simultaneously, depending on ethanol and urea, the Tr of CCH can be tuned facilely from 9 to 31 °C, first-time covering the seasonal temperature change. More importantly, the supercooling degree of 50 °C allows the smart windows to remain transparent across the wide ambient temperature variation, while their stored high latent heat of 199 J g-1 can be released upon triggering to provide indoor heating. The correlated dual-layer with well-matched Tr points endows the DLTS with a remarkable solar modulation (ΔTsol = 70.1%). Compared to normal glass, DLTS can achieve more than 20% annual energy savings in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in typical worldwide cities.
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