Tungsten doped VO2/microgels hybrid thermochromic material and its smart window application

Abstract

Thermal sensitive microgels were synthesized directly from hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) and acrylic acid (AA) in pure water. The first cloud point temperature, near 45 °C, of the inorganic/organic hybrid thermochromic material was obtained by dispersing W doped VO₂ in HPCA microgels and the composite microgel is highly transparent at room temperature with T_lum = 80% when the thickness is 25 μm. The excellent solar modulating ability (ΔT_sol) of 36%, high averaged T_lum of 56% and relatively high cloud point temperature of 50 °C make it suitable for smart windows applications compared with pure VO₂ based materials and previously reported thermochromic hybrids.