Smart windows have shown powerful potential in modulating sunlight and energy management. However, there has not been a single system that can simultaneously possess all desired properties, that is, high compliance, wide tunability, and autonomous regulation. Here, a novel system based on polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane crosslinked poloxamer is demonstrated. The as‐synthesized material simultaneously possesses a number of the desired properties for smart windows. In addition, with the incorporation of gold nanorods, the as‐fabricated smart window can be operated in an autonomous fashion with its transmission being modulated automatically upon environmental temperature shifts. Finally, the high toughness and high stretchability (10 000% strain) of the material also pave a way for future applications in wearable displays or flexible window screens.
Porous poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/phase change microcapsule composites with shape memory properties were prepared by physical foaming, cycles of freezing-thawing and freeze drying. The effects of phase change microcapsules on pore structure, phase change energy storage capacity, thermal stability, crystallinity, mechanical properties, shape memory properties and water absorption and retention of the porous composites were investigated. With an increase of the proportion of phase change microcapsules, the pore density, pore size and water absorption and retention of the porous composite materials were decreased, while the phase change energy storage performance was improved and ΔH m was up to 31.22 J g −1 . The phase change energy storage of the porous composites was stable even after 50 phase transition cycles. Meanwhile, the thermal stability of the porous composites was also not affected by the addition of phase change microcapsules. The entanglement of PVA molecular chains in the porous composites was affected by the microcapsules embedded in the matrix of PVA during freezingthawing cycles, resulting in a change of crystallinity and mechanical properties of the porous composites. The porous composites with phase change energy storage capacity also showed good shape memory performance with shape recovery rate of 100% even after multiple deformation, which was expected to expand the multi-field application of dual-functional materials.
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