Acid Solution Processed VO(2)-Based Composite Films with Enhanced Thermochromic Properties for Smart Windows

As a typical thermochromic material, VO(2) coatings can be applied to smart windows by modulating the transmission of near infrared (NIR) light via phase transition. However, the inherent undesirable luminous transmittance (T(lum)) and solar modulation efficiency (ΔT(sol)) of pure VO(2) impede its practical application. In order to solve this problem, the porous VO(2) based composite film was prepared by magnetron sputtering and subsequent acid solution process with Zn(2)V(2)O(7) particles used as a sacrificial template to create pores, which showed excellent T(lum) (72.1%) and enhanced ΔT(sol) (10.7%) compared with pure VO(2) film. It was demonstrated that the porous structure of the film caused by acid solution process could improve the T(lum) obviously and the isolated VO(2) nanoparticles presented strong localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effects to enhance the ΔT(sol). Therefore, this method will provide a facile way to prepare VO(2) based films with excellent thermochromic performance and thus promote the application of the VO(2) based films in smart windows.