“Liquid glass” windows will cost considerably less if they go into mass production.
Canadian scientists from the University of Toronto have developed a unique technology called “liquid glass” to help save energy in facilities, according to the news on the university’s website.
Of course, even today there are “smart glasses” that change their transparency to protect the room from the sun and the heat it emits. But Canadian researchers went further and proposed a technology that allows not only to reduce / increase the transmission of sunlight, but also to set a separate range for each light spectrum.
For example, today’s “smart windows” globally “cut off” both light and heat, while Canadians offer fine-tuning modes. For example, on a dazzling winter day you want the room to be dark, but you also want warmth, and this can be regulated by fine-tuning the light spectrum. The glasses “cut” the visible spectrum, darken the room and allow infrared rays to heat the room. The technology also works in the opposite direction: in the spring and summer, the windows let in more visible light, but “cut” the infrared heat rays.
As a result, the result of the Canadian study can serve not only for comfort but also for electricity savings of up to 50% for space heating/cooling.
Meanwhile, the researchers peeked at their ideas from squid, cuttlefish and krill, which can change the pigment of their skin and make it transparent in different species. The scientists recreated the mechanism using several sheets of clear plastic stacked on top of each other, each with a network of millimeter-thick microchannels. By loading various pigments in the channels, you can select various combinations of optical qualities for the glass as a whole.
Canadians argue that putting their development into practice is not at all cumbersome, and the glass produced using their technology will not be expensive and can be made from components available to industrialists.
Previously Focus Swedish scientists wrote that thanks to nanotechnology, solar panels will achieve 47% efficiency.
Source: Focus
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