A novel switchable glazing formed by electrically induced chains of suspensions

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Abstract
Chains of submicron size rodlike TiOxNy particles, formed along an electric field by the so-called electrorheological effect, were softly fixed in a silicone elastomer film interposed between a pair of indium–tin oxide glasses. It has been found that the transmittance of the device was remarkably changed by displacing one substrate relatively to the other. This transmittance variation was linear with the relative displacement between substrates. For a displacement of about 35 μm, a solar transmittance change of 40.7% was obtained, while it was below 6.9% for a cell containing TiO2 particles. The excellent optical properties of the cell using TiOxNy particles as switchable glazing was imputable to the large absorption coefficient of the particles over the wavelength of the solar spectrum (∼105 cm−1) and to a drastic variation in the cross-sectional area of the particle chain for the light when submitting the substrates to shear stress. This new type of the switchable glazing was referred to as ‘‘shear stress-type dipole particle chain in elastomer.’’

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