A salt-triggered multifunctional smart window derived from a dynamic polyampholyte hydrogel
Hydrogel smart windows are promising candidates for the automatic modulation of light transmittance through thermo-, humidity-, and electrochromic mechanisms. However, thermo- and humidity-triggered hydrogel smart windows are usually passively controlled and are not convenient for achieving active a...
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Published in | Materials horizons Vol. 9; no. 12; pp. 339 - 347 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
Royal Society of Chemistry
28.11.2022
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Hydrogel smart windows are promising candidates for the automatic modulation of light transmittance through thermo-, humidity-, and electrochromic mechanisms. However, thermo- and humidity-triggered hydrogel smart windows are usually passively controlled and are not convenient for achieving active actuation; electrochromic windows require complex assembly and energy input. In addition, existing hydrogel smart windows are susceptible to physical damage, which may significantly shorten their working life. Herein, a salt-triggered polyampholyte hydrogel (PAH) is developed as a novel smart window with active and facile actuation as well as self-healing ability. The dynamic ionic bonds in PAH can reversibly disassociate and reform in alternate aqueous sodium chloride solution (NaCl(aq.)) and H
2
O, accounting for the reversible transparency-shifting and efficient modulation of light transmittance. PAH also enables patterning through precisely localized treatment with NaCl(aq.), which is useful for one-time information input/storage. Information encryption can be further realized by embedding PAH into an inherently transparent hydrogel or pasting it on an information carrier; the visibility of information is in line with the transparency-shifting of PAH. Moreover, the dynamic ionic bonds can endow the PAH-derived hydrogel smart window with self-healing and automatic damage-repairing abilities without sacrificing light modulation. Thus, salt-triggered PAH provides a new idea for designing actively actuating hydrogel smart windows with multifunctionality.
A salt-triggered transparency-switchable polyampholyte hydrogel is engineered as a multifunctional smart window featuring active and facile light modulation ability, on-demand information-provision management capacity, and self-healing capacity. |
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Bibliography: | Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI https://doi.org/10.1039/d2mh00907b ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 2051-6347 2051-6355 |
DOI: | 10.1039/d2mh00907b |