A semi-solid, polychromatic dual-band electrochromic smart window: Visualizing sunlight and solar heat transmission

In this paper, a novel semi-solid, polychromatic dual-band electrochromic smart window was constructed by organically assembling monoclinic WO 3-x nanowires (m-WO 3-x NWs), AlCl 3 -polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyaniline (PANI). The device not only presented the independent regulation of “bright”, “cool” and “dark”, but also exhibited excellent comprehensive performance, including large optical modulation (74.9 % and 79.1 % at 700 and 2000 nm, respectively.), short coloring/bleaching times (7.6/2.7 and 6.7/3.9 s at 700 and 1200 nm, respectively), and good stability and reversibility (the capacity decreased by 4.3 % and the coulombic efficiency stabled at 99.2 % after 1000 cycles). In addition, the multi-colored PANI endowed the window with the ability to visually monitor modulation modes, as well as indoor sunlight and thermal transmittance. The transparent, green, and blue represented “bright”, “cool”, and “dark” modes, and the depth of the color stood for the control effect in a certain mode. Moreover, the dual-band modulation and polychromatic conversion mechanisms of individual electrodes and the smart window prototype were also elucidated in detail. The modulation of near-infrared light mainly comes from the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption and the phase transition of m-WO 3-x NWs, as well as the generated polarons and bipolarons of PANI. While the selective absorption of visible light was related to the bandgap transition of m-WO 3-x NWs and the electronic transition of the quinone unit. Surprisingly, the smart window could achieve a maximum decrease of 4.3 °C by controlling the “bright-dark” mode transition in real application simulations, significantly boosting the process of low carbon environmental protection and the construction of energy-saving buildings.