High Dynamic Range Smart Window Display by Surface Hydrophilization and Inkjet Printing

Mechanoresponsive smart windows have been intensively investigated in recent years as they offer various applications for signage and light management. However, integrating a display functionality into such smart windows remains a challenge since the realization of pixels in these devices is difficult. In addition, mechanoresponsive smart windows with a high dynamic range are rarely demonstrated because they would suffer from complex fabrication processes and high costs. In this work, a novel surface modification process and digital encoding were developed for direct inkjet printing of micro‐etching‐masks on hydrophobic elastomers, and a pixelated haze distribution was realized. Compared to the traditional mechanoresponsive smart windows, which modify the optical performance by applied strain solely, here, a smart window with haze tunability in either static or strain‐applied state is demonstrated. The work enhances the potential of the fabricated smart window to be applied in high dynamic range signage displays. A mechanoresponsive smart window with a high dynamic range suitable for signage and display applications is demonstrated. In this work, a water‐based surface modification process was developed. In addition, digital encoding was applied to design the etching masks patterns used in on‐surface inkjet printing. With the microgrooves‐consisted patterns, both pixelated and global haze control were achieved.