Technology is being developed in Latvia that will allow the production of building windows that will help to keep rooms warm in the winter and cool in the summer, Latvian Television reported January 30.

Chromatic materials for smart windows and zero-energy buildings, developed by the University of Latvia's Institute of Solid State Physics, has been recognized by the Latvian Academy of Sciences as one of the most important achievements of the last year in Latvian science.

The material is a multi-layer coating that is thinner than the diameter of a human hair and is able to change its properties depending on external interaction, namely both temperature and lighting.

“We have developed a new material yttrium oxyhidride, which is a mixed anionic material. The main characteristic of this material is that it changes its optical properties when it is illuminated either with blue or ultraviolet lights. We can use this feature in smart windows as well as optical sensors,” said Mārtiņš Zubkins, lead researcher at LU CFI.

Source: Latvian researchers work on temp-smart windows, Latvian Public Broadcasting, Jan 30, 2023. 

See also: Winners of the annual Science Achievements’ Competition 2022 announced.