Fine crystalline VO2 nanoparticles: synthesis, abnormal phase transition temperatures and excellent optical properties of a derived VO2 nanocomposite foil

A simulation of the optical properties of nanocomposite coatings derived from VO2 nanoparticles (NPs) shows that the nanocomposite coatings have advantages over pure VO2 thin films in their solar energy modification ability (ΔTsol) and luminous transmittance (Tlum). These nanocoatings rely on fine quality VO2 NPs; methods to prepare NPs for this purpose are yet to be developed. By studying the formation mechanism of VO2 NPs, the NP preparation process was optimized, and fine crystal quality VO2 NPs with diameters from 25–45 nm were synthesized. The highest latent heat of these VO2 NPs is 43 J g−1, which is considerably higher than the 25 J g−1 reported previously and close to the 51 J g−1 of bulk VO2, which indicates that these VO2 NPs are highly crystalline. These NPs showed an asymmetrical phase transition and increased insulator–metal transition (IMT) temperatures. According to our results, the size of particles is not the only reason that should be responsible for the increased IMT temperatures. The high-quality NPs were dispersed in polyurethane (PU) and coated on polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The relationship between the solar energy modification ability (ΔTsol) and the luminous transmittance (Tlum) was studied by experiments and simulation. Although the best experimental values of ΔTsol = 22.3% and Tlum = 45.6% are still lower than the simulation results of ΔTsol = 23.7% and Tlum = 32.4%, these values represent the best for reported VO2 smart films or coatings.