Solar control with thermotropic layers

Daylight characteristics of a polymer dispersed liquid crystal switchable glazing

“…Comfort Working space [13] 500 Comfortable Office work [14] 500 Comfortable Office work [15] 840-2146 (morning) 840-2146 (morning) Comfortable Office work [4,5,15] 782-1278 (afternoon) 782-1278 (afternoon) Comfortable 700-1800 700-1800 Comfortable Computer work [16] 100-2000 100-2000 Useful Daylight Illuminance Any types of work [12] Switchable glazing includes electrochromic (EC) [17][18][19], gasochromic [20], thermochromic [21], thermotropic [22,23], liquid crystal (LC) [24], suspended particle device (SPD) [25][26][27][28] and phase change materials (PCM) [29]. These glazing can be electrically, thermally, or chemically actuated.…”

Thermotropic overheating protection glazings: effect of functional additives and processing conditions on the overheating protection performance

“…Thermotropic glazings change their optical appearance from transparent to opaque upon exceeding a certain threshold temperature reversibly [1,2]. Their utilization in the façade of a building can maintain a reduction in the energy consumption for heating, cooling and artificial day-lighting (smart window) [3][4][5].…”

“…TSFD consist of a thermotropic additive (exhibiting a temperature triggered change in refractive index), which is finely dispersed in a matrix material [1,3]. Below the threshold temperature, the refractive indices of the matrix and the additive are almost equal, yielding a transparent appearance of the TSFD [1,31].…”

“…Below the threshold temperature, the refractive indices of the matrix and the additive are almost equal, yielding a transparent appearance of the TSFD [1,31]. Upon exceeding the threshold temperature (i.e., the melting temperature of the additive) a steep change in the refractive index of the additive is taking place [1]. The change in the relative refractive index (the ratio of the refractive index of the additive domains to the refractive index of the matrix) yields the onset of intense light-scattering and thus a transmittance reduction [1,12,31].…”

“…Upon exceeding the threshold temperature (i.e., the melting temperature of the additive) a steep change in the refractive index of the additive is taking place [1]. The change in the relative refractive index (the ratio of the refractive index of the additive domains to the refractive index of the matrix) yields the onset of intense light-scattering and thus a transmittance reduction [1,12,31]. Besides the relative refractive index, the TSFD morphology is of paramount importance for the overheating protection performance [32,33].…”