Electric vehicle owners may have experienced this pain: on a hot summer day, sunlight (including visible and near infrared light) pours through the panoramic sunroof, turning the car into a mobile “sauna” or “oven”. After prolonged exposure, the interior temperature can exceed 60 °C, and the steering wheel becomes too hot to hold.
A similar pain troubles office workers sitting by the window in high rise buildings: afternoon sunlight delivers a continuous stream of heat, raising the temperature at their workstations. The air conditioning seems ineffective, barely maintaining 26–27 °C. Indoor comfort plummets, and computer screens must be turned to maximum brightness to be readable, affecting both work efficiency and physical/mental health.
In the current wave of global energy transition and rapid technological advancement, these phenomena have drawn sustained attention to novel glass windows and doors with light and heat management capabilities. Smart electrochromic (EC) dimming glass, which offers efficient spectral modulation and can switch autonomously between transparent and tinted states to block visible light and near infrared (NIR) heat, has become an important direction for promoting green buildings and low carbon transportation systems. However, developing low cost, highly stable, large area EC glass capable of full spectrum solar radiation management remains a key challenge in the field.
Recently, the research team of Professor Hongzhi Wang and Researcher Kerui Li from the College of Materials Science and Engineering and the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials at Donghua University proposed a new EC strategy based on dynamic aggregation enhanced plasmonic resonance (DarpE). They constructed a suspended dispersion architecture using nanoclusters as unique functional units. By modulating the suspension–aggregation behavior of polyoxometalate (POM) clusters, they achieved efficient full spectrum solar modulation. They developed an EC hybrid gel containing clusters, opening up new avenues for studying the spatial dynamic behavior of optoionic gel systems. The team fabricated low cost, long life, large area all in one EC devices, overcoming the complex and tedious fabrication processes of conventional multilayer devices. The EC device achieves a solar spectral modulation amplitude of 86.4% and an average transmittance as low as 1.4% in the tinted state (Fig. 1). The results were published in Nature Sustainability under the title “Scalable all in one electrochromic glazing for full spectrum solar radiation management”.
Figure 1 | Full spectrum solar radiation managing electrochromic smart window based on dynamic aggregation enhanced plasmonic resonance (DarpE).
Upon voltage application, the POM clusters migrate to the electrode interface, driving more electrons to be injected into the clusters and promoting multielectron transfer, completing the transition from an insulating state to a semiconducting metallic state. The highly reduced clusters spontaneously aggregate in the EC hybrid gel, undergoing a dynamic reconfiguration of spatial distribution. Plasmonic coupling between the cluster aggregates enhances NIR absorption, endowing the device with excellent solar spectral regulation capability (Fig. 2).
Figure 2 | Synergistic enhancement of NIR plasmonic absorption by multielectron transfer and aggregation behavior of clusters.
By introducing a polymer framework into the gel, the polar groups and steric hindrance effects of the polymer suppress the formation of large aggregates, effectively regulating the suspension–aggregation behavior of the clusters and achieving a stable and reversible dynamic process. This ensures excellent cycling stability of the device, which retains 90.3% of its optical stability after 50,000 cycles. Even for large area EC devices of ≥900 cm², excellent optical modulation and stability are maintained (Fig. 3).
Figure 3 | Reversible aggregation behavior enabled by a polar polymer framework and large area fabrication of highly stable EC glazing.
Solar energy is mainly concentrated in the visible and near infrared bands. Benefiting from the exceptional broad spectrum regulation capability and stability of the DarpE device, it can block solar radiation and achieve efficient heat insulation. As an ideal thermal barrier, the DarpE device can be widely applied in building smart windows and automotive dimming sunroofs. It not only blocks glaring sunlight from entering the room or vehicle interior but also effectively reduces internal temperatures, improving human comfort. At the same time, the device helps reduce energy consumption from air conditioning and other cooling equipment, promoting energy saving and emission reduction in buildings and vehicles, and actively supporting the national “dual carbon” strategy (Fig. 4).
Figure 4 | Large area EC glazing for sustainable buildings and vehicles.
Furthermore, using the aggregation enhanced NIR modulation strategy, the research team developed functional units based on a heteroaromatic tripyridine molecule (H TriPy). Under an electric field, the H TriPy units aggregate at the interface, inducing conjugated stacking that significantly enhances NIR absorption and achieves dual band modulation of visible and NIR light. The device reaches a near zero transmittance state (1.6%) in the tinted state and retains 89.1% performance stability after 100,000 cycles. The related paper, titled “Heteroaromatic π stacking engineered near infrared absorption for highly stable near zero transmittance electrochromic window”, was published in Nature Communications (Nat. Commun. 2025, 16, 9964).
Link to the paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-026-01823-w
