Yenisei project: Optimization of an electro-osmotic nano-dispersion for smart glass technology

The Yenisei project was defined by Color CNTRL Research B.V. to implement the white
state stability of their electro-osmotic technology. For this project the focus was on smart
windows and color panels as potential products. This one-year project was performed by
an external specialist from the Technical University of Eindhoven.
The white state stability issue was defined as a drop in the perceived transmittance of a
display when the driving voltage is switched off. It is desired that the display transmittance
remains the same or decreases gently, achieving a drop in the white state not visible
for the human eye. Strict specifications for the transmittance drop were defined. The deliverables of the project were set as verified and tested solutions to this technological
challenge. No chemistry related solutions were taken into consideration.
During the course of the project, 10 solutions were proposed from which 7 were selected
for testing.
One of the tested solutions was ”driving with constant voltage”. The solution suggests
that a gradual decrease of the driving voltage slows down the drop in transmittance of
the white state. One key outcome of this solution was the fact that only the half of the
standard diving voltage is needed to keep the transparent state of a display, which means 5 times less power consumption.