Fabry–Pérot cavity smart windows with superior solar and thermal modulation capabilities

Abstract

Smart windows are an important strategy to reduce the energy consumption in buildings, which accounts for as much as 30%–40% of the society's energy consumption. VO₂-based thermochromic materials can intelligently regulate the solar heat gains of building interiors. However, the unmatched thermal emissivity (ɛ) modulation of traditional VO₂/glass systems, i.e., high emissivity at low temperatures and low emissivity at high temperatures, leads to additional heating and cooling energy loads in winter and summer, respectively. In this study, we propose a novel VO₂/polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/AgNW multilayer possessing flexible Ag nanowire supported Fabry–Pérot cavities, which synchronously achieves high modulation abilities in both solar spectrum (ΔT_sol of 13.6%) and middle infrared region (Δɛ of 0.50 at 8–13 μm). These achievements are the best among reports for pure VO₂ smart windows. This study provides a flexible and effective protocol to dynamically enhance the light and heat utilization for practical building windows.