Biologically Inspired Nanostructures for Smart Windows with Antireflection and Self-Cleaning Properties
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Abstract
Smart thermochromic windows whose insulation properties are tuned by the ambient temperature have been investigated extensively over recent years to improve energy efficiency of commercial and residential buildings. These windows are typically coated with thermochromic materials that exhibit a fully reversible, temperature dependent transition between semiconductor and metallic phases. During hot weather, a smart window passes all or part of the visible radiation incident and rejects the majority of the Sun's near-infrared radiation; thus the need for air conditioning is reduced. During cooler weather, both visible and infrared (IR) radiation is fully transmitted, limiting the need for internal heating. A popular material for such intelligent coatings is Vanadium dioxide (VO2) due to i) the radiation stop-band manifesting in the IR region, ii) the advantage that it can easily be applied to large substrates and iii) the ability to lower its phase transition temperature by doping it with metal compounds, most commonly tungsten. Calculations have shown that a VO2 coating can deliver a 30% reduction in energy consumption of buildings in countries with hot climates such as Italy and Egypt. Nonetheless, the merits of VO2 coatings quickly diminish in colder climates and in places like Helsinki or Moscow they, in fact, deliver a negative energy balance.
One very important factor for this performance reversal is the high refractive index that VO2 exhibits in its cold-transparent phase, which results in a large portion of the incident light being reflected - 30%-35% in the visible for a 50 nm thick VO2 film on glass. This figure compares with <4% reflectivity in conventional glass windows, meaning that a thermochromic window is much darker and colder than its plain glass counterpart in the winter, which in turn translates to an actual increase in the energy required for lighting and heating a building. In addition, dirt and stains further degrade the transmission properties of a smart window.
In order to overcome the above limitations, moth-eye type structures engineered to exhibit broadband and wide-angle antireflection properties are proposed, for the first time, to substantially improve the currently poor transmission properties of thermochromic smart windows and to pave the way for the commercialization of this technology. Our nanopatterned windows potentially have 72% higher transmission compared to existing thermochromic windows and in addition, they exhibit simultaneous self-cleaning properties without additional processing. This challenging, proof-of-concept, 24-month research project focuses on the fabrication and characterization of smart windows enhanced with moth-eye nanostructures and is divided into two research streams: A) Fabrication and characterization of antireflection and self-cleaning moth-eye nanostructures directly onto glass, appropriate for new high-end window products. B) Development of potentially low-cost thermochromic polymer thin-film to retrofit existing non-smart windows.
One very important factor for this performance reversal is the high refractive index that VO2 exhibits in its cold-transparent phase, which results in a large portion of the incident light being reflected - 30%-35% in the visible for a 50 nm thick VO2 film on glass. This figure compares with <4% reflectivity in conventional glass windows, meaning that a thermochromic window is much darker and colder than its plain glass counterpart in the winter, which in turn translates to an actual increase in the energy required for lighting and heating a building. In addition, dirt and stains further degrade the transmission properties of a smart window.
In order to overcome the above limitations, moth-eye type structures engineered to exhibit broadband and wide-angle antireflection properties are proposed, for the first time, to substantially improve the currently poor transmission properties of thermochromic smart windows and to pave the way for the commercialization of this technology. Our nanopatterned windows potentially have 72% higher transmission compared to existing thermochromic windows and in addition, they exhibit simultaneous self-cleaning properties without additional processing. This challenging, proof-of-concept, 24-month research project focuses on the fabrication and characterization of smart windows enhanced with moth-eye nanostructures and is divided into two research streams: A) Fabrication and characterization of antireflection and self-cleaning moth-eye nanostructures directly onto glass, appropriate for new high-end window products. B) Development of potentially low-cost thermochromic polymer thin-film to retrofit existing non-smart windows.
Planned Impact
The main impact that Bionspired Thermochromic Windows will deliver is to improve the energy efficiency of commercial and residential buildings, which currently account for about 40% of the primary energy consumption in developed countries. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), if no action is taken, the CO2 emissions of the building sector will increase to 15.2 Gt by 2050, nearly double from their 2007 levels. The demand for heat and cooling is the main driving force behind this growth; as an example, the annual sales of room air conditioners in China alone reached 27 million units in 2009, a substantial 35% increase from 2005. Thermochromic windows can potentially make a countable impact in reducing building related CO2 emissions provided that this technology becomes affordable and accessible to the wide public. A recent paper calculated that glass constructions (offices, shopping malls, train stations, airports) can reduce their annual energy consumption by up to more than 30% if they use thermochromic glazing instead of plain glass surfaces. Of course, skyscrapers are not made of plain glass, yet again the same report showed that thercmochromic glass can outperform high-tech static glazing products used these days in the construction sector by anything between 30% and 50%.
In terms of conformance with existing policies, the project's objectives are in close affinity with the EU's famous 20/20/20 SET-plan also adopted by the UK, which amongst others states that advances made in energy efficiency should contribute a 20% reduction in the EU's total energy consumption by 2020 from 1990 levels. It is also aligned with the requirements arising from the UK's own Climate Change Bill, passed through parliament in November 2008, which has set stringent targets for 80% carbon emission reductions by 2050 again from 1990 levels. Along these lines, the Government published the "Building a Greener Future " policy statement in 2007, where it expressed its intentions for all new homes to be zero carbon by 2016, a policy to be enforced by a major progressive tightening of the energy efficiency building regulations. According to this policy statement, insulation technologies, which include smart windows, will play a prominent role in achieving the zero carbon goal.
As about the commercial outlook, smart windows is a rapidly growing market which is expected to exceed the $1B threshold in 2015 and to reach $2.5B in sales by 2018, up from a mere $200M in 2011, although thermochromic windows have not been commercialized yet. The UK already has a significant footing in this market with Pilkington glass - a British company that introduced the first smart window in the market in 2001 - leading the way.
In terms of conformance with existing policies, the project's objectives are in close affinity with the EU's famous 20/20/20 SET-plan also adopted by the UK, which amongst others states that advances made in energy efficiency should contribute a 20% reduction in the EU's total energy consumption by 2020 from 1990 levels. It is also aligned with the requirements arising from the UK's own Climate Change Bill, passed through parliament in November 2008, which has set stringent targets for 80% carbon emission reductions by 2050 again from 1990 levels. Along these lines, the Government published the "Building a Greener Future " policy statement in 2007, where it expressed its intentions for all new homes to be zero carbon by 2016, a policy to be enforced by a major progressive tightening of the energy efficiency building regulations. According to this policy statement, insulation technologies, which include smart windows, will play a prominent role in achieving the zero carbon goal.
As about the commercial outlook, smart windows is a rapidly growing market which is expected to exceed the $1B threshold in 2015 and to reach $2.5B in sales by 2018, up from a mere $200M in 2011, although thermochromic windows have not been commercialized yet. The UK already has a significant footing in this market with Pilkington glass - a British company that introduced the first smart window in the market in 2001 - leading the way.
People |
ORCID iD |
Ioannis Papakonstantinou (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Taylor A
(2013)
A bioinspired solution for spectrally selective thermochromic VO2 coated intelligent glazing.
in Optics express
Papakonstantinou I
(2015)
Fundamental limits of concentration in luminescent solar concentrators revised: the effect of reabsorption and nonunity quantum yield
in Optica
Tummeltshammer C
(2016)
Losses in luminescent solar concentrators unveiled
in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Powell M
(2016)
Intelligent Multifunctional VO 2 /SiO 2 /TiO 2 Coatings for Self-Cleaning, Energy-Saving Window Panels
in Chemistry of Materials
Tummeltshammer C
(2016)
Flexible and fluorophore-doped luminescent solar concentrators based on polydimethylsiloxane.
in Optics letters
Description | The key findings from the technology are summarised: - Using nature inspired engineering can substantially improve the performance of existing thermochromic windows. - Our technology can outperform other existing solutions by 40-50% or more in terms of modulation of infrared radiation entering a building. - Our technology has the potential of cutting down the energy required to cool down a building by >10% depending on the latittude - We have created antireflection and self-cleaning structures for solar cells that can improve their efficiency - The main challenge is to scale up this fabrication processes so that we can translate this technology into a commercial product |
Exploitation Route | our ideas can be taken up by the industry and be scaled up. Methods to fabricate large scale, high yield structures still need to be devleoped as our prototypes are only a few mm^2 in area |
Sectors | Energy Environment Transport |
URL | http://ww.ee.ucl.ac.uk/pilab |
Description | The grant has been the precursor to the European Research Starting grant IntelGlazing, which has culminated in a new speciality glazing with self-cleaning, anti-reflective and anti-microbial properties and a new nanoscale fabrication process (reported in Advanced Materials, 33 (43), 2102175). It also resulted in a highly efficient thermochromic window (reported in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 12(7), 8140-8145). Samples have been sent to one of the leading glass manufacturers and are under evaluation with the prospect of launching a new glass product. The work has been disseminated broadly to the wider public via science exhibition or appearing on media. It was exhibited at the 2017 Royal Society Summer Science exhiibition (exhibit Smart surfaces), at Ecobuild 2017 (attended >33,000 members from the construction industry and the public) and at Surfex 2020 and 2022. |
Sector | Construction,Energy,Transport |
Impact Types | Societal |
Description | EEB-01-2016 - Highly efficient insulation materials with improved properties |
Amount | € 5,201,843 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 723868 |
Organisation | European Commission |
Department | Horizon 2020 |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 08/2016 |
End | 08/2020 |
Description | European Research Council Starting Grant |
Amount | € 1,800,000 (EUR) |
Funding ID | GA679891 |
Organisation | European Research Council (ERC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | Belgium |
Start | 03/2016 |
End | 02/2020 |
Description | Frontiers of Engineering Seed Funding |
Amount | £20,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | FoESF1617/18 |
Organisation | Royal Academy of Engineering |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2017 |
End | 09/2017 |
Description | EPSRC Press Release |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | EPSRC wrote a press release on our work on smart windows which was reproduced by over 50 media around the world including the BCC, Daily News, The Independent, Frost&Sullivan, Forbes, Yahoo News and many other. This reached out to millions of people worldwide and gave our work international exposure (as an example a retired pilot from Australia contacted me to enquire about the technology as well as a photographer from New Zealand who wanted to apply our coatings on her camera lenses) . A number of companies also contacted us to explore the possibility of developing further the technology with us. We are currently in discussions and negotiations of how to translate the technology. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/news/selfcleaningwindows/ |
Description | Exhibition at Ecobuild 2017 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | we were invited by the Adaptation and Resilience in the Context of Change network (ARCC) to participate in Ecobuild 2017 (March 7-9 , 2017) - the major exhibition in the UK with international exposure and over 33,000 attendees (including MPs and policy makers). We will also deliver two seminars one on smart windows and another one on building integrated photovoltaic. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.arcc-network.org.uk/adaptive-places/future-materials-processes/ |
Description | Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | We were successful in our application (jointly with a number of other academics at UCL) to exhibit our work at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in July 2017. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |