Research Projects

The growing demand for temperature regulation in buildings and reducing energy consumption and environmental effects has led to the development of smart windows for passive heating and cooling in the summer. The coating for these windows should be transparent in the visible spectrum, reflective in the solar spectrum, and emissive in the infrared spectrum for summer, and absorptive/transparent in the solar spectrum and reflective in the infrared spectrum for winter. Recent advances in material science and engineering have allowed for the creation of structured materials tailored to achieve these radiative properties. This project aims to develop a thermal-regulating radiative coating for windows, providing heating in winter and cooling in summer. The coating will be made of polymer-nanoparticle-based composite radiative multi-layered materials, with the first layer being indium tin oxide (ITO), the second layer PMMA polymer, and the third layer PMMA-VO2 (vanadium oxide) composite. The coating will have high reflectivity in the solar spectrum and high emissivity in the infrared spectrum in the summer season, while low reflectivity and low emissivity in the summer season. The coating will absorb minimum solar radiation and radiate maximum infrared heat in high-temperature operation, and absorb/transmit maximum solar radiation and radiate minimum infrared heat in low-temperature operation. The technology will operate without water or electricity consumption, making it a unique and energy-saving solution for commercial use.