A cost-effective method to fabricate VO2 (M) nanoparticles and films with excellent thermochromic properties

Abstract

In this paper, high crystallinity and pure phase VO2 (M) powder is synthesized by a novel and facile method. Aiding by additional manual grinding and etching process, 22nm high-quality VO2 (M) nanoparticles can be obtained. The structure and properties of the VO2 (M) particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and UV–vis–NIR spectrophotometer. After mixing VO2 (M) nanoparticles with transparent polymer, thin films prepared by grinded VO2 nanoparticles show excellent thermochromic properties. The solar modulation ability is up to 12.4% with luminous transmittance of 62.7%. Moreover, The haze of films prepared by grinded VO2 (M) nanoparticles is down to 1.9%, which is far less than that of films prepared by original VO2 (Haze=8.5%) and etched VO2 particles (Haze=4.6%). Dramatical improvement of thermochromic property and definition indicate that it is a promising method to prepare large-scale VO2 nanoparticles and cost-effective smart window.