Ultra-high Performance Thermochromic Polymers via a Solid-solid Phase Transition Mechanism and Their Applications.

Thermochromic materials are substances that change colour in response to temperature variations. Today, sustainability concerns are the main drivers of thermochromic research, with smart, energy efficient windows being one of primary applications. While vanadium oxides and leuco dyes are traditionally the main thermochromic materials, hydrogels operating based on change of solvation have risen as some of the most promising materials due to their high optical transparency and good solar modulating abilities. In this work, a distinct mechanism for thermochromism arising from the crystalline solid to amorphous solid polymer transition, with a corresponding transition from an opaque state to a transparent state is disclosed. Both ultra-high optical transparency (T lum up to 99%) and ultra-high solar modulation (ΔT solar up to 87%) were observed. The transition temperature was tunable from 11 to 61 ͦ C by tuning the polymer structure. When incorporated into applications such as greenhouse materials and thermoelectric devices, significant performance enhancement was observed, due to the thermochromic material functioning as a thermal valve, speeding up solar heat absorbance while inhibiting the cooling process via its phase transition. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.