Imagine how convenient it would be if your car windows switch immediately from transparent to dark after one press, which means you can save energy by blocking sunlight on hot days without having to use blinds. Researchers from MIT have recently succeeded in making it possible with their smart glass.
Specifically, researchers use electrochromic materials, which change their color and transparency in response to an applied voltage. This kind of technique seems to be popular with some auto brands, however, it has much more advantages. It provides quick changes while requires no or just low power. Once the glass is switched from clear to dark, or vice versa, the new system needs little to no power to maintain its new state. On the other hand, it takes previous materials several minutes to switch to dark, and the dark level are not always perfect. Besides, those old methods require constant electric current to sustain the opaque status.
In the research with aim to figure out the response time of this smart glass, researchers used a sponge-similar material which has good ionic as well as electronic conductivity. When there is an electric current, car windows will negatively charge, positive ions then move through the material to neutralize the power, creating the color-changing effect. Besides, the new material is made by combining two chemical compounds, an organic material and a metal salt. Once mixed, these self-assemble into a thin film of the switchable material. Darkness is made by combining red and green.
Mircea Dincă, Chemical Professor at MIT, leader of the research said that this technique which reduces the cost of air conditioning could lead to a revolution of power saving. He claimed“You could just flip a switch when the sun shines through the window, and turn it dark, or even automatically make that whole side of the building go dark all at once”. He believed the material could also be used for some kinds of low-power displays, similar to displays like electronic ink (used in devices such as the Kindle and based on MIT-developed technology). Though it has been proved that this methodology is obviously effective, researchers still keep carrying out studies and tests before widely industrial application.
Specifically, researchers use electrochromic materials, which change their color and transparency in response to an applied voltage. This kind of technique seems to be popular with some auto brands, however, it has much more advantages. It provides quick changes while requires no or just low power. Once the glass is switched from clear to dark, or vice versa, the new system needs little to no power to maintain its new state. On the other hand, it takes previous materials several minutes to switch to dark, and the dark level are not always perfect. Besides, those old methods require constant electric current to sustain the opaque status.
In the research with aim to figure out the response time of this smart glass, researchers used a sponge-similar material which has good ionic as well as electronic conductivity. When there is an electric current, car windows will negatively charge, positive ions then move through the material to neutralize the power, creating the color-changing effect. Besides, the new material is made by combining two chemical compounds, an organic material and a metal salt. Once mixed, these self-assemble into a thin film of the switchable material. Darkness is made by combining red and green.
Mircea Dincă, Chemical Professor at MIT, leader of the research said that this technique which reduces the cost of air conditioning could lead to a revolution of power saving. He claimed“You could just flip a switch when the sun shines through the window, and turn it dark, or even automatically make that whole side of the building go dark all at once”. He believed the material could also be used for some kinds of low-power displays, similar to displays like electronic ink (used in devices such as the Kindle and based on MIT-developed technology). Though it has been proved that this methodology is obviously effective, researchers still keep carrying out studies and tests before widely industrial application.