Lei Zhouyue, Wu Baohu, Wu Peiyi
State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Center for Advanced Low-Dimension Materials, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China.
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Research (Wash D C). 2021 Jan 20;2021:4515164. doi: 10.34133/2021/4515164. eCollection 2021.
Light management is essential for military stealth, optical information communication, and energy-efficient buildings. However, current light management materials face challenges of limited optical modulation range and poor mechanical properties. Herein, we report a locally confined polymerization (LCP) approach to develop hierarchical network-augmented hydroglasses (HNAH) based on poly(methacrylic acid) for broadband light management as well as mechanical enhancement. The dynamic geometry of the networks ranging from nano- to micro-scale enables to manage the light wavelength over three orders of magnitude, from the ultraviolet (UV) to infrared (IR) band, and reversibly switches transmittance in the visible region. A smart hydroglass window is developed with elasticity, outstanding robustness, self-healing, notch resistance, biosafety by blocking UV radiation, and high solar energy shielding efficacy with a temperature drop of 13°C. Compared to current inorganic glasses and Plexiglas, the hydroglass not only is a promising and versatile candidate but also provides novel insights into the molecular and structural design of broadband light management and optimized mechanical properties.
光管理对于军事隐身、光信息通信和节能建筑至关重要。然而，目前的光管理材料面临着光学调制范围有限和机械性能差的挑战。在此，我们报道了一种局部受限聚合（LCP）方法，用于开发基于聚（甲基丙烯酸）的分级网络增强水凝胶玻璃（HNAH），以实现宽带光管理和机械增强。从纳米到微米尺度的网络动态几何结构能够在从紫外（UV）到红外（IR）波段的三个数量级上管理光波长，并在可见光区域可逆地切换透过率。开发了一种智能水凝胶玻璃窗，它具有弹性、出色的坚固性、自修复性、抗缺口性、通过阻挡紫外线辐射实现生物安全性，以及在温度下降13°C时具有高太阳能屏蔽效率。与目前的无机玻璃和有机玻璃相比，水凝胶玻璃不仅是一种有前途的多功能候选材料，还为宽带光管理的分子和结构设计以及优化的机械性能提供了新的见解。
