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This is a Experimental Study study.

October 16, 2025

An Anode‐Free Reflectance‐Modulated Smart Window via Reversible Zinc Electrodeposition for Enhanced Solar Heat Management

Key Points

The novel design of ZERD eliminates the need for complex Zn-anodes while enhancing solar heat management.
Rapid switching speeds of 7 seconds for coloring and 97 seconds for bleaching were achieved, significantly improving usability.
With a high-reflectance state and low solar heat gain coefficient, ZERD reduces temperature rise by 8.8 °C compared to traditional methods.
Simulations indicate that ZERD can achieve over 40% energy savings compared to normal glass, making it effective in tropical climates.

Abstract

Abstract Buildings account for 40% of global energy consumption, with half expended on thermal management. While reversible zinc electrodeposition devices (Zn‐ECDs) offer promising broad‐spectrum modulation for smart windows, conventional designs require complex Zn‐anodes and exhibit heat‐absorbing black states. Here, an anode‐free, reflectance‐modulated Zn‐ECD (ZERD) employing an optimized iodide‐based electrolyte is presented. This design eliminates costly metal meshes while enabling rapid switching (7 s coloring/97 s bleaching) and broad optical modulation (ΔT = 84.9% at 650 nm). Notably, ZERD's high‐reflectance mirror state (R sol = 64.98%) and low solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC = 0.109) significantly enhances solar isolation ability, cutting interior temperature rise by 8.8 °C versus Zn‐ECD which exhibited black in its coloring state. The energy consumption simulations confirm > 40% cooling energy savings of ZERD versus normal glass, and consistent 7.5–21.2% improvements over black Zn‐ECDs in tropical cities. This work provides a novel reference for high‐performance, reflectance‐modulated electrochromic windows.

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