A patterned phase-changing vanadium dioxide film stacking with VO2 nanoparticle matrix for high performance energy-efficient smart window applications

Abstract

A vanadium dioxide (VO2) based solid-to-solid phased changing material has been attracting great interest in smart window applications. However, achieving high solar modulation and high transparency simultaneously in visible light is the major challenge for the practical application of this smart material. To resolve this issue, in this paper, a smart film composed of a VO2 nanoparticle matrix and a patterned VO2 film is presented. Numerical modeling and electromagnetic simulation are carried out to characterize the performance in terms of solar modulation and luminous transmittance, and a parametric study is carried out to optimize the proposed smart window film. Compared with the VO2 nanoparticle matrix, the proposed structure can obtain 23% solar modulation and 57% luminous transmittance but with a much thinner thickness, which will significantly reduce the cost and fabrication complexity and extend the environment stability.