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Description
Overall aims and objectives of the project
A huge portion of the significant amount of energy consumed to maintain thermal comfort inside buildings is lost through windows. In contrary to conventional ones, smart (i.e. energy-efficient) windows are capable of regulating solar/heat transmission for energy efficiency and comfort. It is, therefore, imperative to use smart windows, to facilitate the reduction of energy demand and carbon footprint in the building sector. Therefore, the important aspects to consider are (i) control of the transition temperature, and (ii) increase of the increase of luminous transmittance. The control over the metal-to-insulator transition in vanadium dioxide coatings is fairly new in terms of single identifiable steps in the procedure (i.e. strain, usage of a buffer layer, doping). This collaborative attempt is part of a broader research plan, in which its long-term goal is the optimization of the vanadium dioxide based hetero structures, with a scope of their large-scale testing and implementation on architectural buildings.
The project will address the challenges by (i) investigate the microstructural changes induced in vanadium dioxide coatings as a function of their growth conditions, (ii) correlate these changes with their optical and electrical behavior, and (iii) establish rigid structure – properties relationships that will lead to tailored made vanadium dioxide materials with enhanced efficiency for thermochromic smart windows applications.
The value added of partnership resides in the fact that successful implementation of the project can only be achieved by the complementary expertise of the consortium partners. Also, the complementarity of the partners’ expertise will inevitably lead to a long-term partnership and enhance research results.