Thin films for solar control applications

The excessive use of heating systems in cold climates and air conditioning systems in hotter climates is resulting in the extensive use of electricity in order to maintain such systems. This in turn leads to the greater use of fossil fuels and higher emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutant gases. The growing amount of carbon dioxide emissions is contributing to the problem of global warming, hence increasing the need for alternative technologies to heating and air conditioning systems. One such alternative is the production of thin films which can be used as window glazing coatings to construct ‘smart windows’. These windows have the greatest use within constant climates. In cold climates, windows with high solar transmittance and low thermal emittance are needed; this allows sunlight into the building to brighten the room but stops heat from escaping thus warming the room. In constantly hot climates, materials that are transparent in the visible region but reflective in the infrared, such as thin metallic coatings, can be used to ensure that the inside of the building remains cool. These solar control coatings, however, pose a problem in varying climates such as in northern and central Europe. For these cases, materials that have altering properties owing to external surroundings could be the solution. These ‘chromatic’ materials include several categories, such as photochromic glasses and polymers, thermochromic metal oxides and electrochromic materials. This review will begin with a discussion as to the chemistry behind the solar control coatings and chromic materials including ambient radiation and the ideal of a black-body object. It will then look in depth at each class of these chromic materials considering experimental results and theoretical insight as well as production techniques and applications.