Emerging Thermal‐Responsive Materials and Integrated Techniques Targeting the Energy‐Efficient Smart Window Application

TLDR

Architectural windows that regulate indoor solar radiation by changing optical transmittance in response to temperature are promising for reducing building energy consumption, and recent interest has grown in novel materials and integrated techniques for multifunctionality. This review systematically summarizes emerging thermoresponsive materials for smart window applications, including hydrogels, ionic liquids, perovskites, metamaterials, and liquid crystals, and discusses opportunities and challenges for future development. The review compares these materials with vanadium dioxide and covers recent progress on integrated techniques such as electrothermal control, self‑cleaning, wettability, and solar‑cell integration for bifunctional energy conservation and generation. The authors highlight opportunities and challenges in thermochromic smart windows and outline prospects for future development.

Abstract

Abstract Architectural windows that smartly regulate indoor solar radiation by changing their optical transmittance in response to thermostimuli are developed as a promising solution toward reducing the energy consumption of buildings. Recently, energy‐efficient smart window technology has attracted increasing scientific interest, with the exploration of energy‐efficient novel materials as well as integration with practical techniques to generate various desired multifunctionalities. This review systematically summarizes emerging thermoresponsive materials for smart window applications, including hydrogels, ionic liquids, perovskites, metamaterials, and liquid crystals. These are compared with vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ), a conventional and extensively studied material for thermochromic smart window applications. In addition, recent progress on cutting‐edge integrated techniques for smart windows is covered, including electrothermal techniques, self‐cleaning, wettability, and also integration with solar cells for bifunctional energy conservation and generation. Finally, opportunities and challenges relating to thermochromic smart windows and prospects for future development are discussed.