(IR), here defined as light with wavelengths between 700 nm and 2500 nm, accounts for around 50% of the total energy emitted by the sun reaching Earth (Figure 1b), [3,4] and this light produces interior heating but is invisible to the unaided eye.The absorption of sunlight by building materials and passage of IR through transparent surfaces such as windows is responsible for much of the interior overheating of office rooms, automobile interiors, greenhouses, and other similar spaces. The use of artificial cooling and heating systems will only increase with the continued influence of global climate change, with energy used for cooling systems surpassing energy used for heating around the year 2070, and a 40 fold increase in air cooling energy use is expected by 2100. [5] By controlling the influx of radiant heat transfer, calculations show that more than 50% of the energy used in lighting, heating and cooling could be saved by deploying better control systems over only 18% of available window stock. [6] In areas with human inhabitants employing windows, more aspects must be considered than simply reducing the use of energy in the room: any switchable window used in, for example, a commercial office space has several other requirements that must be met before it may be installed. Among these requirement are reasonably fast switching speeds [7] (although for IR control, relatively longer times compared to visible light switching should be acceptable), good optical transparency with minimum haze, an acceptable device lifetime, [8] and functionality over a range of exterior temperatures. Controlling the excess of solar energy without compromising the visible transparency of the window is an important consideration for human health: maintaining inside/outside contact and daylighting are vital in retaining well-being and productivity, as well as providing economic and aesthetic gain by reducing the need for artificial lighting systems. [9,10] These are challenging goals for a window to realize.A number of materials have been developed over the past few decades to maintain indoor temperatures. Many of these focus on the opaque structural building elements like walls and roofing. [10][11][12][13] Other solutions target the transparent window, employing external mechanical shutters and blinds, [14] phase change materials (PCMs), [15] thermochromic materials, [16] aerogels, [17] trapped gas in fluid membranes, [18] and even phononic materials, [19] among other options. Indeed, controlling heat passage through the window in response to changing climate conditions is a great challenge; ideally, one would accomplish Windows are vital elements in the built environment that have a large impact on the energy consumption in indoor spaces, affecting heating and cooling and artificial lighting requirements. Moreover, they play an important role in sustaining human health and well-being. In this review, we discuss the next generation of smart windows based on organic materials which can change their properties by reflecting or trans...

Organic-inorganic perovskites are highly promising solar cell materials with laboratory-based power conversion efficiencies already matching those of established thin film technologies. Their exceptional photovoltaic performance is in part attributed to the presence of efficient radiative recombination pathways, thereby opening up the possibility of efficient light-emitting devices. Here, we demonstrate optically pumped amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) at 780 nm from a 50 nm-thick film of CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite that is sandwiched within a cavity composed of a thin-film (∼7 μm) cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) reflector and a metal back-reflector. The threshold fluence for ASE in the perovskite film is reduced by at least two orders of magnitude in the presence of the CLC reflector, which results in a factor of two reduction in threshold fluence compared to previous reports. We consider this to be due to improved coupling of the oblique and out-of-plane modes that are reflected into the bulk in addition to any contributions from cavity modes. Furthermore, we also demonstrate enhanced ASE on flexible reflectors and discuss how improvements in the quality factor and reflectivity of the CLC layers could lead to single-mode lasing using CLC reflectors. Our work opens up the possibility of fabricating widely wavelength-tunable "mirror-less" single-mode lasers on flexible substrates, which could find use in applications such as flexible displays and friend or foe identification.

A tunable infrared reflector has been fabricated using polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals containing a negative dielectric, anisotropic liquid crystal and a long and flexible ethylene glycol twin crosslinker.

Electrically switchable broadband infrared reflectors that are relatively transparent in the visible region have been fabricated using polymer stabilised cholesteric liquid crystals. The IR reflectors can change their reflection/transmission properties by applying a voltage in response to changes in environmental conditions. Simulations predict that a significant amount of energy can be saved on heating, cooling and lighting of buildings in places such as Madrid by using this switchable IR reflector. We have also fabricated a switchable IR reflector which can also generate electricity. These polymer based switchable IR reflectors are of high potential as windows of automobiles and buildings to control interior temperatures and save energy.