Extremely Low‐Turn‐On‐Voltage Enabled Uniformity for Large‐Area Smart Window to Manipulate Solar Radiation

Abstract

Electro‐reflective devices (ERDs) show high energy efficiency as smart windows for the next generation of buildings and electric vehicles. However, the un‐uniformly distributed electric field between the electrode layers in ERDs results in poor deposition uniformity, sluggish response rate, and short cyclability. Herein, TBAP molecules are used to form a network of weakly polymerized gel molecules and weaken the effect of the voltage drop on the electrodeposited silver uniformity, and the device is optimized in terms of the turn‐on voltage (from −1.67 down to −1.47 V), the response rate (improved by 22%) and coloring uniformity (improved from 48.8% to 25.6%), and maintaining optical contrast (82% in 700 nm) and IR reflectance (80%). The 625 cm2 ERDs are produced and achieved a rapid response within 135 s. In addition, outdoor tests show that the ERDs have excellent photo‐thermal modulation. Therefore, this work provides a fundamental design idea for the development of rapid‐response large‐area electro‐reflective smart windows.