Affiliations 

  • 1 Centre for Advanced Devices and Systems, Faculty of Engineering, Multimedia University, Persiaran Multimedia, Cyberjaya 63100, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 2 Centre for Manufacturing and Environmental Sustainability, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Multimedia University, Jalan Ayer Keroh Lama, Bukit Beruang, Melaka 75450, Malaysia
  • 3 Sri Desa International Secondary School, Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur 58100, Malaysia
  • 4 School of Electrical Engineering and Artificial Intelligence, Xiamen University Malaysia, Jalan Sunsuria, Bandar Sunsuria, Sepang 43900, Selangor, Malaysia
Polymers (Basel), 2023 Aug 16;15(16).
PMID: 37631477 DOI: 10.3390/polym15163420

Abstract

Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) film is an active smart film penetrating the market due to its unique functionalities. These functional characteristics include switchable tint capabilities, which shield building residents from the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, improve energy-saving features, and produce higher cost-efficiency. Although PDLC films are promising in several applications, there is still ambiguity on the performance of PDLC films. Particularly, the sizing effects' (such as film thickness and area) correlation with visible light transmission (VLT), ultraviolet rejection (UVR), infrared rejection (IRR), light intensity, current consumption, and apparent power consumption is not well understood. Therefore, this study investigated the sizing effects of PDLC films, including the thickness effect on VLT, UVR, IRR, light intensity, and area influence on current and apparent power consumptions. The varying applied voltage effect on the light transmittance of the PDLC film was also effectively demonstrated. A 0.1 mm PDLC film was successfully presented as a cost-efficient film with optimal parameters. Consequently, this study paves the way for a clearer understanding of PDLC films (behavior and sizing effects) in implementing economic PDLC films for large-scale adoption in commercial and residential premises.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.