Using Reversible Metal Electrodeposition in Windows to Improve Energy Efficiency and Control Natural Lighting

Dynamic windows with adjustable tint give users control over the flow of light and heat to decrease the carbon footprint of buildings and improve the well-being of the people inside them. Despite the benefits of dynamic windows, they are deployed in less than 0.004% of commercial building space because the existing technology cannot achieve fast and color-neutral tinting at an agreeable cost. Reversible metal electrodeposition (RME) is a promising approach to solve the problems plaguing the current generation of dynamic glass. Here, we demonstrate the use of polymer inhibitors to reversibly deposit metal films with controlled morphology in dynamic windows. The dynamic windows that employ the polymer inhibitor can readily tint to below 0.001% visible transmittance in less than 3 minutes and exhibit high infrared reflectance (>70%), color-neutral transmittance (C^*< 5), and a wider range of optical and solar modulation than any existing technology. The polymer inhibitors also increase efficiency and improve the durability of the windows and enable construction of 1 ft.² dynamic windows with fast response and excellent uniformity.