Novel strategy toward color-tunable and glow-in-the-dark colorless smart natural wooden window

Abstract

Smart windows that use photochromic colorless wooden materials are an intriguing and urgent area of research. Herein, we create afterglow transparent woods with UV-induced photochromic capability. Infiltrating a lignin-modified wood (LMW) with a solution of methyl acrylate (MA) and rare-earth strontium aluminum oxide (SrAl2O4: Eu2+, Dy3+; SAOED) yielded afterglow and photochromic translucent wood. Preparing photoluminescent transparent wood effectively requires dispersing SAOED phosphor nanoparticles (NPs) in pre-polymerized MA without clumping. CIE (Commission Internationale de ĺEclairage) Lab colorimetric studies indicated that this transparent timber substrate changed color from colorless in daylight to greenish when exposed to ultraviolet rays. Micrographs taken using a transmission electron microscope (TEM) were analyzed to learn more about the morphology of the synthesized SAOED NPs. Different characterization techniques were applied on the photochromic translucent wood samples, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDX), hardness properties, wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescent spectroscopy (WD-XRF), and absorption and emission spectroscopy. Absorption maximum wavelength was detected at 365 nm. Both 436 nm and 517 nm were observed as emission wavelengths in the developed photoluminescence wood. The results displayed that the manufactured transparent wood introduced superior protection from UV radiation and superhydrophobic activity. UV light triggered a rapid and reversible photochromic reaction in the transparent luminous wood.