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Anisotropic vanadium dioxide sculptured thin films with superior thermochromic properties.

ABSTRACT: VO2 (M) STF through reduction of V2O5 STF was prepared. The results illustrate that V2O5 STF can be successfully obtained by oblique angle thermal evaporation technique. After annealing at 550 °C/3 min, the V2O5 STF deposited at 85° can be easily transformed into VO2 STF with slanted columnar structure and superior thermochromic properties. After deposition SiO2 antireflective layer, Tlum of VO2 STF is enhanced 26% and ΔTsol increases 60% compared with that of normal VO2 thin films. Due to the anisotropic microstructure of VO2 STF, angular selectivity transmission of VO2 STF is observed and the solar modulation ability is further improved from 7.2% to 8.7% when light is along columnar direction. Moreover, the phase transition temperature of VO2 STF can be depressed into 54.5 °C without doping. Considering the oblique incidence of sunlight on windows, VO2 STF is more beneficial for practical application as smart windows compared with normal homogenous VO2 thin films.

SUBMITTER: Sun Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3783039 | biostudies-other | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:Fenestration elements that enable spectrally selective dynamic modulation of the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum are of great interest as a means of decreasing the energy consumption of buildings by adjusting solar heat gain in response to external temperature. The binary vanadium oxide VO2 exhibits a near-room-temperature insulator-metal electronic transition accompanied by a dramatic modulation of the near-infrared transmittance. The low-temperature insulating phase is infrared transparent but blocks infrared transmission upon metallization. There is considerable interest in harnessing the thermochromic modulation afforded by VO2 in nanocomposite thin films. However, to prepare a viable thermochromic film, the visible-light transmittance must be maintained as high as possible while maximizing thermochromic modulation in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, which necessitates the development of high-crystalline-quality VO2 nanocrystals of the optimal particle size embedded within the appropriate host matrix and refractive index matched to the host medium. Here, we demonstrate the preparation of acrylate-based nanocomposite thin films with varying sizes of embedded VO2 nanoparticles. The observed strong size dependence of visible-light transmittance and near-infrared modulation is explicable on the basis of optical simulations. In this article, we elucidate multiple scattering and absorption mechanisms, including Mie scattering, temperature-/phase-variant refractive-index mismatch between VO2 nanocrystals and the encapsulating matrix, and the appearance of a surface plasmon resonance using temperature-variant absorptance and diffuse transmittance spectroscopy measurements performed as a function of particle loading for the different sizes of VO2 nanocrystals. Nanocrystals with dimensions of 44 ± 30 nm show up to >32% near-infrared energy modulation across the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum while maintaining high visible-light transmission. The results presented here, providing mechanistic elucidation of the size dependence of the different scattering mechanisms, underscore the importance of nanocrystallite dimensions, refractive-index matching, and individualized dispersion of particles within the host matrix for the preparation of viable thermochromic thin films mitigating Mie scattering and differential refractive-index scattering.

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Anisotropic vanadium dioxide sculptured thin films with superior thermochromic properties.

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