Self-templated method to fabricate VO2 nanoparticles with ultrahigh luminous transmittance for energy-efficient thermochromic windows

[Display omitted] •Wide range of oxygen to argon ratio, reducing the difficulty of VO2 preparation.•Good particle modulation performance, significantly improving the luminous transmittance.•A simple method can be produced on a large scale. The ultrahigh transparent VO2 films with surface nanoparticles had been prepared by combining the high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) with the post-annealing. The single-sided VO2 thin film with an ultrahigh luminous transmittance (Tlum) of 82.9% exhibited a transparent vision with solar modulation ability (ΔTsol) of 6.1%, and the double-sided VO2 thin film provided an excellent ΔTsol of 9.3% while Tlum maintained at 70.6%. The size of VO2 nanoparticles was effectively controlled by adjusting the oxygen flow rates, which can broaden the bandgap and regulate the localized surface plasmon resonance to balanced Tlum and ΔTsol. The propound surface engineering approaches symbolize a facile and cost-effective strategy to improve thermochromic characteristics, which could facilitate the deployment of VO2 film in smart windows and windshields of vehicles.