A Canadian research team reported in the latest edition of British Chemical that they have developed a simple, low-cost technology that promises to make large-scale, color-changing, energy-saving glass. Energy-saving glass can be used according to the needs of the building and the household. Change between transparency and color, dynamically adjust light and heat from the sun, save energy for buildings.
The new technology invented by the University of British Columbia’s research team coated ethanol with metal ions on the glass surface and converted it to a film on glass using ultraviolet light. The results showed that under normal conditions, the film was completely transparent, but the current passed. It will turn blue.
Cheng Wei, the first author of the paper, told the Xinhua News Agency reporter that this technology produces dynamic coatings without using complicated vacuum equipment and does not need to be prepared at high temperatures, thereby reducing costs.
Cheng Wei said that the team next plans to study how to make the glass transition between transparent and gray instead of blue.
Although the current electrochromic glass is energy-saving, its preparation cost is as high as 500 to 1,000 US dollars per square meter, which is much higher than the cost of ordinary glass.
