Pixelated Smart Window for High Dynamic Range Signage Displaying Applications

Smart windows have been intensively investigated for energy and light management during the last decades. Mechanoresponsive smart windows are one of the research hot spots because of their energy-saving operation and cost-effective fabrication. To introduce a displaying functionality in such smart windows can open various application scenarios and dramatically reduce energy consumption in daily signage displays. However, the optical properties in conventional mechanoresponsive smart windows are usually modulated globally. Therefore, a pixelated smart window is expected to realize a smart-window-based signage display. In this work, we demonstrate a pixelated mechanoresponsive smart window, which can display images in a high dynamic range. The surface pixelation was achieved by a newly developed surface hydrophilization method, inkjet-printed micro-etching-mask, and plasma surface treatment. Compared to the traditional mechanoresponsive smart windows, a linear haze tunability was achieved without applying strain. Therefore, a two-dimensional haze modulation was realized, namely mechanoresponsivity upon strain and haze tunability in a static state. ... mehrFurthermore, the fully controllable haze property leads to a 225 haze depth in the smart window, displaying the image in a high dynamic range. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a pixelated mechanoresponsive smart window, which can be used in signage displays. Moreover, the developed fabrication processes show high versatility and can be utilized in universal surface treatment.