Thermal conducting materials for heat modulation of smart windows

In recent years, global warming has become a huge issue and much emphasis has been placed on reducing fossil fuel consumption. Residential and commercial buildings consume a large amount of electrical energy to maintain air-conditioning or heating in certain countries. As windows are known to be the weakest thermal link in the building, there has been a lot of research interest in smart windows technology so as to reduce energy consumption in buildings. Current technologies for smart windows include electrochromic, PDLC and nanocrystal-based smart windows. Much research has done on smart windows where heat in the form of infrared radiation is modulated, the most common being electrochromic windows but not much has been researched for the modulation of other types of heat transfer. Thus, a method that is facile and cost-effective to synthesize smart windows that modulate heat through conduction is introduced in this study. GQD and GQD doped with Ag, Cu and W nanoparticles are synthesized using electrophoretic deposition techniques, where it will be tested and characterized to determine its thermal conductivity and other properties relevant to a smart window.Bachelor of Engineering (Materials Engineering