CN117031848A

CN117031848A - Light control device and method for manufacturing light control device

Info

Publication number: CN117031848A
Application number: CN202311116850.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈江博; 彭骥; 李泽源; 郭威; 孟虎; 孟凡理
Original assignee: BOE Technology Group Co Ltd; Beijing BOE Technology Development Co Ltd
Current assignee: BOE Technology Group Co Ltd; Beijing BOE Technology Development Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-08-31
Filing date: 2023-08-31
Publication date: 2023-11-10

Abstract

The application discloses a light modulation device and a manufacturing method of the light modulation device, and belongs to the technical field of electrophoresis. The dimming device includes: dimming structure and control assembly. The light modulation structure comprises a substrate layer, a first electrode layer, an electrophoresis layer, a second electrode layer and a packaging layer which are arranged in a stacked mode. According to the application, the microspheres comprising the charged spheres and the metal layer positioned on the surfaces of the charged spheres are arranged in the electrophoresis layer, so that the blocking capability of the microspheres to light is improved through the metal layer, and then the microspheres can be controlled through the control component to control the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer outside the electrophoresis layer, so that the function of adjusting the transmittance of the light by the light adjusting device is realized, the problem of poor light adjusting effect of the light adjusting device in the related art is solved, and the light adjusting effect of the light adjusting device is improved. The metal layer also has the blocking effect on infrared light, and the thermal effect of the infrared light is strong, so that the dimming device can also realize the adjusting function on the heat insulation effect.

Description

Light control device and method for manufacturing light control device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of electrophoresis technology, and in particular, to a light modulation device and a method for manufacturing the light modulation device.

Background

The dimming device is a device capable of adjusting incident light, can be used for scenes such as side windows, skylights, building glass curtain walls and the like of automobiles, and has the function of adjusting light transmittance.

The light modulation device comprises an electrode structure and a plurality of charged spheres, wherein the electrode structure comprises two electrodes, and the plurality of charged spheres are controlled by the two electrodes so that the plurality of charged spheres are gathered to one electrode to block light from penetrating through the light modulation device, and thus the function of adjusting the light transmittance can be realized.

However, the blocking effect of the charged sphere on the light may be poor, resulting in poor dimming effect of the dimming device.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a light modulation device and a manufacturing method of the light modulation device, which can solve the problem of poor heat insulation effect of the light modulation device in the related art. The technical scheme is as follows:

according to a first aspect of the present application, there is provided a dimming device comprising: a dimming structure and a control assembly;

the light adjusting structure comprises a substrate layer, a first electrode layer, an electrophoresis layer, a second electrode layer and a packaging layer which are arranged in a stacked mode, and the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer are electrically connected with the control assembly;

the electrophoresis layer comprises a dispersion medium and a plurality of microspheres in the dispersion medium, wherein the microspheres comprise charged spheres and a metal layer positioned on the surfaces of the charged spheres.

Optionally, the charges of the charged spheres are like charges, and the orthographic projection of the metal layer on the first center line of the charged spheres covers 50% -100% of the first center line and covers at least one end of the first center line, wherein the first center line is a line segment located in the charged spheres in a straight line passing through the sphere center of the charged spheres.

Optionally, the diameter of the charged sphere ranges from 50 nanometers to 200 nanometers.

Optionally, the charge of the charged sphere is opposite charge, and the orthographic projection of the metal layer on the first center line of the charged sphere covers (2-/-2)/4 to (2+/-2)/4 of the first center line, and covers at least one end of the first center line, wherein the first center line is a line segment located in the charged sphere in a straight line passing through the sphere center of the charged sphere.

Optionally, the charged spheres have a diameter in the range of 10 microns to 100 microns.

Optionally, the thickness of the metal layer ranges from 10 nanometers to 1 micrometer.

Optionally, the material of the metal layer includes aluminum, copper, silver, platinum, or molybdenum.

Optionally, the microsphere further comprises a charge retention layer, wherein the charge retention layer is positioned on the surface of the metal layer and coats the charged sphere.

In another aspect, there is provided a method of manufacturing a dimming device, the method comprising:

the method comprises the steps of obtaining a dimming structure, wherein the dimming structure comprises a substrate layer, a first electrode layer, an electrophoresis layer, a second electrode layer and a packaging layer which are arranged in a stacked mode, the electrophoresis layer comprises a dispersion medium and a plurality of microspheres positioned in the dispersion medium, and the microspheres comprise charged spheres and a metal layer positioned on the surfaces of the charged spheres;

acquiring a control component;

the control assembly is electrically connected to the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer.

Optionally, a manufacturing method for obtaining a dimming structure is provided, the method comprising:

obtaining a glue material;

spraying the charged spheres onto the glue;

forming a metal layer on the surface of the charged sphere;

and removing the gel material to obtain the microsphere.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application has the beneficial effects that at least:

the utility model provides a device of adjusting luminance including structure and control assembly adjusts luminance to through set up the microballon including electrified spheroid and the metal level that is located electrified spheroid surface in the electrophoresis layer of structure of adjusting luminance, with promote the ability of stopping light to the microballon through this metal level, and then can control the microballon including electrified spheroid through the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer outside the control assembly control electrophoresis layer, and then realize the regulatory function of adjusting luminance device to the transmissivity of light, solved the relatively poor problem of the dimming effect of device among the related art, promoted the dimming effect of dimming device.

In addition, the metal layer also has the blocking effect on infrared light, and the thermal effect of the infrared light is strong, so that the dimming device can also realize the adjusting function on the heat insulation effect.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is apparent that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a dimming device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic view of the dimmer arrangement shown in fig. 1 in a unpowered state;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a microsphere in the light modulation device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a microsphere according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a microsphere according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of another dimming device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic view of the dimmer arrangement shown in fig. 6 in a unpowered state;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of another dimming device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of another dimming device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the microsphere in the light modulation device shown in FIG. 9;

fig. 11 is a schematic view of one state of the dimming device shown in fig. 9;

fig. 12 is a schematic view of another state of the dimming device shown in fig. 9;

fig. 13 is a flowchart of a manufacturing method of a dimming device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a flowchart of a manufacturing method of another dimming device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of a method for manufacturing a microsphere according to an embodiment of the present application.

Specific embodiments of the present application have been shown by way of the above drawings and will be described in more detail below. The drawings and the written description are not intended to limit the scope of the inventive concepts in any way, but rather to illustrate the inventive concepts to those skilled in the art by reference to the specific embodiments.

Detailed Description

For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the embodiments of the present application will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

An embodiment of the present application provides a light modulation device, please refer to fig. 1, fig. 2 and fig. 3, wherein fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the light modulation device in a powered state, fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of the light modulation device in a non-powered state, and fig. 3 is a schematic sectional structural diagram of a microsphere in the light modulation device shown in fig. 1 (the section shown in fig. 3 is a plane including a sphere center of a charged sphere). The dimming device 10 includes: a dimming structure 11 and a control assembly 12; the dimming structure 11 comprises a substrate layer 111, a first electrode layer 112, an electrophoresis layer 113, a second electrode layer 114 and a packaging layer 115 which are stacked, wherein the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 are electrically connected with the control component 12; the electrophoretic layer 113 includes a dispersion medium 1131 and a plurality of microspheres 1132 in the dispersion medium 1131, the microspheres 1132 including charged spheres A1 and a metal layer A2 on the surface of the charged spheres A1.

The first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 are electrically connected to the control component 12, so that the control component 12 can control the voltages of the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114, and the control component 12 can adjust the blocking effect of the microspheres 1132 on the light by controlling the voltages of the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 because the microspheres 1132 in the electrophoresis layer 113 are located between the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114. The dimming device provided by the embodiment of the application can have various ways of adjusting the microsphere, and one exemplary way can comprise: when the control component 12 controls the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 to apply a voltage, as shown in fig. 1, the microspheres 1132 may be closely arranged and connected to form an approximately whole layer structure, and then the metal layers in the microspheres 1132 may be approximately connected together to form an overall metal film structure, so as to improve the blocking effect of the dimming device on light. In addition, the metal layer also has the function of blocking infrared light, so that the dimming device can also realize the function of adjusting the heat insulation effect. When the control component 12 controls the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 not to apply the voltage, as shown in fig. 2, the microspheres 1132 may be distributed (e.g. may be randomly distributed) in the dispersion medium 1131, and the metal layers of the plurality of microspheres 1132 do not form an integral metal film structure, so that the incident light may pass through the light modulation device 10, and the heat generated by the incident light cannot be blocked. Therefore, the dimming effect of the dimming device can be improved, and the dimming effect can be the adjusting effect of the dimming device on the transmittance of various light rays.

In summary, the embodiment of the application provides a dimming device including a dimming structure and a control component, and the microspheres including charged spheres and a metal layer located on the surface of the charged spheres are arranged in an electrophoresis layer of the dimming structure, so that the blocking capability of the microspheres to light is improved through the metal layer, and then the microspheres including the charged spheres can be controlled through the control component to control a first electrode layer and a second electrode layer outside the electrophoresis layer, so that the function of adjusting the transmittance of the dimming device to light is realized, the problem of poor dimming effect of the dimming device in the related art is solved, and the dimming effect of the dimming device is improved. In addition, the metal layer also has the blocking effect on infrared light, and the thermal effect of the infrared light is strong, so that the dimming device can also realize the adjusting function on the heat insulation effect.

In an embodiment of the present application, referring to fig. 1, an electrophoresis layer 113 is disposed between a first electrode layer 112 and a second electrode layer 114, and the electrophoresis layer 113 includes a dispersion medium 1131 and a plurality of microspheres 1132 disposed in the dispersion medium 1131. The electrophoretic layer 113 may include a sealing film having a cavity, and the dispersion medium 1131 and the plurality of microspheres 1132 may be located in the cavity of the sealing film, and the material of the sealing film may include a polypropylene film, polyurethane, polyacrylic acid, epoxy resin, silicone, and the like.

The dispersion medium 1131 may be used as a medium in which the plurality of microspheres 1132 move, and the dispersion medium 1131 may include an organic solvent, which may have characteristics of low toxicity, good chemical stability, the same specific gravity as the suspended particles, low viscosity and dielectric constant, chemical inertness, and the like, and exemplary solvents may include tetrachloroethylene, xylene, dimethyl phthalate, ethanol, isopropanol, and the like.

Referring to fig. 3, the microsphere 1132 includes a charged sphere A1 and a metal layer A2 disposed on the surface of the charged sphere A1. When the charges of the charged spheres A1 are the same charges or different charges, the control component 12 controls the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 to apply a voltage, so as to control the microspheres 1132 to move to the side of the electrophoresis layer 113 close to the first electrode layer 112 or the side close to the second electrode layer 114, thereby controlling the blocking effect of the metal layer A2 on the incident light. In the embodiment shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, when a voltage is applied, the plurality of microspheres 1132 move to the side of the electrophoresis layer 113 close to the second electrode layer 114 and are closely arranged to form an approximately whole layer structure, and then the metal layers in the plurality of microspheres 1132 can be approximately connected together to form an integrated metal film layer structure, so as to improve the blocking effect of the dimming device on light. In addition, the metal layer also has the function of blocking infrared light, so that the dimming device can also realize the function of adjusting the heat insulation effect. When the charge of the charged sphere A1 is opposite charge, the control component can control the rotation of the microsphere 1132 by controlling the voltage applied by the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer, so as to control the blocking effect of the metal layer A2 on the incident light.

In the microsphere 1132, the diameter of the charged sphere A1 may be in the range of 50 nm to 200 nm, or the diameter of the charged sphere A1 may be in the range of 10 micrometers to 100 micrometers, wherein when the charges of the charged sphere A1 are the same charges, the diameter of the charged sphere A1 is in the range of 50 nm to 200 nm.

The charged sphere A1 may include a single material or a composite material such as a composite of an inorganic material and an inorganic material, a composite of an organic material and an inorganic material, a composite of an inorganic material and a polymer material, a composite of an organic material and a polymer material, or the like, and when the charged sphere A1 includes a single material, the material of the charged sphere A1 includes titanium dioxide, scarlet powder, benzidine yellow, phthalocyanine green, phthalocyanine blue, or the like. The charged sphere A1 may be a solid sphere or a hollow sphere, which is not limited in this embodiment. In addition, in the process of preparing the charged sphere A1, the charge of the charged sphere A1 may be provided by a charge control agent, which may control the charge density and charge type of the charged sphere A1, and the charge control agent may include organic sulfate or sulfonate (calcium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, barium dinonylnaphthalene sulfonate, etc.), metal soap (naphthoate or stearate of metals such as cobalt, aluminum, iron, etc.), organic amide, organic phosphate or phosphate, etc. A charge control agent may also be added with a charge adjuvant in an amount that enhances the effectiveness of the charge control agent, which may include a polyhydroxy compound or an amino alcohol compound.

The metal layer A2 is located on the surface of the charged sphere A1, and the metal has high reflection property for both visible light and infrared light, so that the light modulation device 10 can simultaneously modulate the visible light and the infrared light, wherein the infrared light has obvious heat effect, and the light modulation device 10 can isolate the heat of the infrared light from the light modulation device 10, so that the light modulation device 10 provided by the embodiment of the application can simultaneously modulate light and heat. The metal layer A2 may be formed by sputtering (router), pulsed laser deposition (Pulsed Laser Deposition, PLD), electron beam evaporation, molecular beam epitaxy, or vapor deposition; the thickness of the metal layer A2 ranges from 10 nanometers to 1 micrometer. In addition, the material of the metal layer in this embodiment may be aluminum, which may reduce the cost, and the natural oxide layer formed in the environment may improve the service life.

Optionally, the microsphere may further include a charge-retaining layer, referring to fig. 4 (the cross section shown in fig. 4 is a plane including the sphere center of the charged sphere), the microsphere 1132 includes a charged sphere A1, a metal layer A2 and a charge-retaining layer A3, the metal layer A2 is located on the surface of the charged sphere A1, the charge-retaining layer A3 is located on the surface of the metal layer A2 and covers the charged sphere A1, and the charge-retaining layer A3 can make the charged sphere A1 obtain a faster electrophoretic movement speed.

Optionally, the coating range of the metal layer includes various cases, for the case that the charges of the charged sphere shown in fig. 1 and 2 are the same charges, please refer to fig. 5 (the cross section shown in fig. 5 is a plane including the sphere center of the charged sphere), the orthographic projection of the metal layer A2 on the first center line L1 of the charged sphere A1 covers 50% -100% of the first center line L1, and covers at least one end of the first center line L1, and the first center line L1 is a line segment located in the charged sphere A1 in a straight line passing through the sphere center of the charged sphere A1, that is, the coating range of the metal layer A2 includes half-coating to full-coating. Illustratively, as shown in fig. 3 and 4, the fully coated microsphere has a metal layer A2 integrally coated on the outer surface of the charged sphere A1. As shown in fig. 5, the semi-coated microsphere 1132 includes a charged sphere A1, a metal layer A2 and a charge-holding layer A3, wherein the metal layer A2 coats half of the surface of the charged sphere A1, and the charge-holding layer A3 is located on the surface of the metal layer A2 and coats the charged sphere A1. In addition, the edge B1 of the semi-clad metal layer A2 may have other shapes besides a plane, such as a wavy shape or a zigzag shape, which corresponds to different manufacturing processes, which is not limited in this embodiment. The semi-coating microsphere may be prepared through adhering adhesive to the surface of charged sphere, plating metal film and eliminating adhesive. In addition, in the manufacturing process of the semi-coated microsphere, the shape of the edge of the metal layer can be controlled by setting the shape of the edge of the adhesive material.

In the embodiment of the present application, referring to fig. 1 and 2, the base layer 111 is located on a side of the first electrode layer 112 away from the electrophoresis layer 113, and the base layer 111 may provide support for other film layers in the dimming structure 11. The base layer 111 may be a transparent base layer such as glass, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), acryl, polyimide (PI), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), or the like.

The first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 are respectively located at two sides of the electrophoretic layer 113, wherein the first electrode layer 112 is located at one side of the electrophoretic layer 113 close to the substrate layer 111, the second electrode layer 114 is located at one side of the electrophoretic layer 113 far away from the substrate layer, and the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 are electrically connected with the control component 12, so that the control component 12 can control the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 to apply a voltage, and then the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 can provide an electric field for the electrophoretic layer 113. The first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 may employ Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO), a composite film layer (ITO/Ag/ITO) including indium tin oxide, silver, and indium tin oxide, graphene, silver nanowires, a metal mesh, and the like.

The encapsulation layer 115 is located on a side of the second electrode layer 112 away from the electrophoresis layer 113, and the encapsulation layer 115 can isolate other film layers in the dimming structure 11 from the outside, and illustratively, the encapsulation layer 115 can protect the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 from being corroded by external gas and liquid, and reduce oxidation, thereby improving the service life of the dimming device. The encapsulation layer 115 may be a transparent substrate layer made of glass, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), acryl, polyimide (PI), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), or the like, and may be coated with a transparent organic water-blocking material, thereby further blocking water vapor.

The substrate layer 111, the first electrode layer 112, the electrophoresis layer 113, the second electrode layer 114 and the packaging layer 115 which are arranged in the light modulation structure 11 can be made of transparent materials, which is beneficial to light modulation and heat modulation of the light modulation device 10 applied to the scenes such as side windows, skylights, building glass curtain walls and the like of automobiles.

In an embodiment of the present application, in addition to the sealing of the dispersion medium and the plurality of microspheres by the sealing film to obtain the electrophoretic layer shown in fig. 1 and 2, the electrophoretic layer may further include a plurality of sealing containers, in which the dispersion medium and the plurality of microspheres are located, and then the plurality of sealing containers are disposed between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer to form the electrophoretic layer, and the sealing containers may be microcapsules or microcups. Exemplary, embodiments of the present application provide another dimming device including microcapsules. Referring to fig. 6 and 7, fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of the dimming device in the powered state, and fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of the dimming device in the unpowered state. The dimming device 10 includes: a dimming structure 11 and a control assembly 12; the dimming structure 11 comprises a substrate layer 111, a first electrode layer 112, an electrophoresis layer 113, a second electrode layer 114 and a packaging layer 115 which are stacked, wherein the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 are electrically connected with the control component 12; the electrophoresis layer 113 includes microcapsules 1133, the microcapsules 1133 include microcapsule walls and cavities, the dispersion medium 1131 and a plurality of microspheres 1132 are all located in the cavities of the microcapsules 1133, and the microspheres 1132 include charged spheres and a metal layer located on the surfaces of the charged spheres. Note that, for clarity of illustration of the plurality of microcapsules 1133, fig. 6 and 7 are therefore enlarged to show the spacing between the plurality of microcapsules 1133, and the present embodiment is not limited to the spacing between the plurality of microcapsules 1133.

The microspheres 1132 are dispersed in the microcapsule 1133 with a limited volume, so that the dispersion and aggregation of the microspheres 1132 are limited in the microcapsule 1133, and thus the microcapsule 1133 can prevent the microspheres 1132 from agglomerating, depositing or laterally moving in a large area, improve the uniformity of the dispersion of the microspheres 1132, improve the stability of the dimming device for adjusting the light transmittance, and be beneficial to improving the long-term use reliability of the dimming device 10. The microcapsules 1133 may be blended with a water-soluble binder to obtain a microcapsule slurry, which may be uniformly coated on the first electrode layer 112 by printing or spraying, so that the electrophoretic layer 113 including a plurality of microcapsules 1133 may be formed.

In addition, the volume of all the microspheres 1132 in the microcapsule 1133 accounts for 1% -50% of the volume of the inner cavity of the microcapsule 1133, when the volume of the microspheres 1132 accounts for 1% -50%, the number of the microspheres 1132 in the inner cavity of the microcapsule 1133 is moderate, and under the condition of applying voltage, the metal layers of the microspheres 1132 approximately form an integral metal film structure, so that infrared light can be blocked, the light-shielding and heat-insulating functions can be realized by the light-modulating device, and under the condition of not applying voltage, incident light can pass through the light-modulating device, so that the light-modulating and heat-modulating functions can be realized by the light-modulating device. When the ratio is more than 50%, the number of the microspheres 1132 in the inner cavity of the microcapsule 1133 is excessive, and most of incident light is still blocked by the microspheres 1132 under the condition that no voltage is applied, so that the light-transmitting function cannot be realized by the light-adjusting device; when the ratio is less than 1%, the metal layer of the microsphere 1132 cannot form an integral metal film layer structure under the condition of voltage application, and the dimming device cannot realize the light and heat insulation function if the range of blocking the incident light by the dimming device is too small. For example, in the embodiment shown in fig. 6 and 7, the volume of the microsphere 1132 is 10% to 20% of the volume of the inner cavity of the microcapsule 1133, and the metal layer of the microsphere 1132 approximately forms a whole metal film structure with a thickness of about 1 micron when a voltage is applied, and the metal film structure is about a superposition of five layers of the microsphere 1132.

The shape of the microcapsule 1133 may not be required to be a standard sphere, the microcapsule 1133 may be blended with an adhesive to obtain a microcapsule slurry in practical use, and then the microcapsule slurry may be uniformly coated on the first electrode layer 112 to obtain the electrophoretic layer 113, wherein the drying shrinkage of the adhesive used may change the shape of the microcapsule 1133, and in addition, the shape of the microcapsule 1133 may be changed through a calendaring, stretching, film pressing or extrusion process.

The manufacturing process of the microcapsule 1133 may be a phase separation method or an interfacial polymerization method, the microcapsule wall thickness of the microcapsule 1133 manufactured by the phase separation method is in the order of micrometers, and the capsule wall thickness of the manufactured microcapsule 1133 manufactured by the interfacial polymerization method is in the order of nanometers. The capsule wall thickness is related to the capsule particle size, capsule material content and density, chemical structure of the reactants, in addition to the manufacturing process. The diameter of the microcapsule 1133 may range from 30 micrometers to 500 micrometers, the capsule wall thickness of the microcapsule 1133 may range from 100 nanometers to 200 micrometers, and, illustratively, the capsule wall thickness of the microcapsule 1133 in this embodiment is about 500 nanometers, and a thinner capsule wall thickness may avoid light leakage, so that the dimmable region of the dimming device may be increased.

The material of the microcapsule 1133 may include natural polymer materials, semi-synthetic polymer materials, and synthetic polymer materials. Wherein, the natural polymer material can comprise protein, vegetable gum or wax, and the natural polymer material is nontoxic and has good film forming property; the semisynthetic polymer material can comprise celluloses, such as shuttle methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose and the like, and has low toxicity and high viscosity; the synthetic polymer material can comprise polybutadiene, polyethylene, polyvinyl acetal, polyether, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, polyacrylamide, polymethyl methacrylate, polyurethane, polyvinyl alcohol, epoxy resin, synthetic rubber and the like, and has good film forming property and good chemical stability.

An embodiment of the present application provides another dimming device, the dimming device includes a micro-cup, please refer to fig. 8, the dimming device 10 includes: a dimming structure 11 and a control assembly 12; the dimming structure 11 comprises a substrate layer 111, a first electrode layer 112, an electrophoresis layer 113, a second electrode layer 114 and a packaging layer 115 which are stacked, wherein the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 are electrically connected with the control component 12; the electrophoresis layer 113 includes a micro cup 1133, a dispersion medium 1131 and a plurality of micro spheres 1132, wherein the micro spheres 1132 include charged spheres and a metal layer on the surface of the charged spheres, which are all located in the micro cup 1133.

The microspheres 1132 are dispersed in the micro-cup 1133 with limited volume, so that the dispersion and aggregation of the microspheres 1132 are limited in the microspheres 1132, and thus the micro-cup 1133 can prevent the microspheres 1132 from agglomerating, depositing or laterally moving in a large area, improve the dispersion uniformity of the microspheres 1132, improve the stability of the light transmittance adjustment of the light modulation device, and be beneficial to improving the long-term use reliability of the light modulation device 10. The manufacturing process of the micro cup 1133 includes a photolithography cup manufacturing process and a high-speed full-automatic press molding cup manufacturing process (roll-to-roll), and the material of the micro cup 1133 may include polyimide, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, acrylic, ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer, and the like. Note that, in order to clearly illustrate the plurality of microcups 1133, fig. 8 is an enlarged view of the space between the plurality of microcups 1133, and the space between the plurality of microcapsules 1133 is not limited in this embodiment. Illustratively, the distance between the plurality of micro-cups 1133, i.e., the cup wall thickness of the micro-cups 1133, may be as thin as possible, and the thinner cup wall thickness may avoid light leakage, thereby increasing the dimmable area of the dimming device.

In the light modulation device shown in fig. 1 to 8, the charges of the charged spheres are the same charges, alternatively, the charges of the charged spheres may also be opposite charges, as shown in fig. 9 and 10, fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of the microsphere in the light modulation device shown in fig. 9 (the section shown in fig. 10 is a plane including the sphere center of the charged sphere). The dimming device 10 includes: a dimming structure 11 and a control assembly 12; the dimming structure 11 comprises a substrate layer 111, a first electrode layer 112, an electrophoresis layer 113, a second electrode layer 114 and a packaging layer 115 which are stacked, wherein the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114 are electrically connected with the control component 12; the electrophoretic layer 113 includes a dispersion medium 1131 and a plurality of microspheres 1132, and the microspheres 1132 include charged spheres A1 and a metal layer A2 on the surface of the charged spheres A1. In the dimming device shown in fig. 9 and 10, the metal layer A2 is located in the positively charged Q1 region of the charged sphere A1, alternatively, the metal layer A2 may also be located in the negatively charged Q2 region of the charged sphere A1, which is not limited in this embodiment.

For the dimming device shown in fig. 9 and 10, the diameter of the charged sphere A1 ranges from 10 micrometers to 100 micrometers, and at this time, the charged sphere A1 may be a torsion sphere, which is a charged sphere capable of rotating under the action of an electric field, and the rotation of the torsion sphere is driven by the torque force of the dipole of the torsion sphere under the action of the electric field, so that the control component can control the rotation angle of the torsion sphere by controlling the voltages of the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer. In addition, in the dimming device shown in fig. 9 and 10, the coverage range of the metal layer is different from that of the dimming device shown in fig. 1 to 8, referring to fig. 10, the orthographic projection of the metal layer A2 on the first center line L1 of the charged sphere A1 covers (2-/-2)/4 to (2+/-2)/4 of the first center line L1, and covers at least one end of the first center line L1, wherein the first center line L1 is a line segment located in the charged sphere A1 in a straight line passing through the center of the charged sphere A1, that is, the included angle θ ranges from 90 degrees to 270 degrees, and the included angle θ is an included angle formed by an intersection point J, which is an intersection point formed by an orthographic projection of the edge B1 of the metal layer A2 on the first center line L1, and the charged sphere A1. When the ratio of the metal layer A2 covering the first central line L1 is smaller than (2- [ v ] 2)/4, the metal layer A2 cannot completely shield sunlight, so that the light transmittance is higher, and the heat insulation requirement cannot be met; when the ratio of the metal layer A2 covering the first center line L1 is greater than (2 + [ v ] 2)/4, the electrophoretic layer is always in a low transmittance state, and the adjustment range of the light transmittance of the light modulation device becomes small. Illustratively, the metal layer A2 shown in fig. 9 and 10 covers 50% of the first centerline L1, and the metal layer A2 covers the positively charged half area Q1 of the charged sphere A1. Because the control component can control the rotation angle of the charged sphere by controlling the voltage of the first electrode layer and the voltage of the second electrode layer, and the rotation direction of the charged sphere is related to the charge type of the charged sphere, when the area covered by the metal layer A2 has the same charge, the control component can accurately control the position of the metal layer A2 by controlling the rotation angle of the charged sphere A1, so that the control component can improve the control dimming accuracy, and the dimming device is beneficial to efficiently controlling the light transmittance. In addition, the metal layer A2 may cover the negatively charged half area Q2 of the charged sphere A1, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Since the charges of the charged spheres A1 are opposite charges, the control component 12 can control the rotation of the microspheres 1132 by controlling the voltages applied by the first electrode layer 112 and the second electrode layer 114, so that the position of the metal layer A2 on the surface of the charged spheres A1 can be controlled by the control component, and the light transmittance of the dimming device can be controlled. The light transmittance of the light modulation device includes different states, please refer to fig. 9, 11 and 12, the side of the encapsulation layer 115 away from the electrophoretic layer 113 may be the side from which incident light enters, and this embodiment may be observed, as shown in fig. 9, when the control component 12 controls the metal layer to be located on the side of the electrophoretic layer 113 close to the encapsulation layer 115, the incident light is blocked by the metal layer, so that the light modulation device is observed to have a bright metal color, and when the metal layer is made of a metal material with a silver-white color, for example, the bright silver-white color may be observed. As shown in fig. 11, when the control member 12 controls the metal layer to be located at a side of the electrophoretic layer 113 remote from the encapsulation layer 115, incident light is blocked by the metal layer after passing through the charged spheres, and thus the dimming device is observed to have a darker metallic color, and, illustratively, when the metal layer is made of a metallic material having a silver-white color, a darker silver-white color can be observed at this time. As shown in fig. 12, when the control component 12 controls the metal layer between the above two positions, part of the incident light can pass through the microsphere 1132, so that the dimming device is observed to have a certain transparency, and the control component 12 can adjust the light transmittance by controlling the rotation angle of the microsphere 1132.

In addition, the charged spheres provided in fig. 9, 11 and 12 may be high-transparency spheres, and in the intermediate state, the dimming device has a certain transparency, so that the dimming device is beneficial to being applied to scenes such as side windows of automobiles, skylights, building glass curtain walls and the like. The light adjusting device can be applied to an automobile side window, when the control component receives a light and heat insulation instruction of a user, the control component can control the voltage of the first electrode layer and the voltage of the second electrode layer, so that the charged sphere is controlled to rotate, the metal layer can block sunlight, and therefore the sunlight cannot penetrate through the automobile side window to a carriage, light in the carriage is not dazzling, the temperature is comfortable, and the user experience sense can be improved; when the control component receives a light transmission instruction of a user, the charged sphere is controlled to rotate, so that a part of the region of the charged sphere can transmit light, and in addition, the control component can also control the charged sphere to realize different rotation angles, so that the automobile side window can realize different transparency.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for manufacturing a light modulation device, referring to fig. 13, the method includes:

step 1301, obtaining a dimming structure.

The dimming structure comprises a substrate layer, a first electrode layer, an electrophoresis layer, a second electrode layer and a packaging layer, wherein the substrate layer, the first electrode layer, the electrophoresis layer, the second electrode layer and the packaging layer are arranged in a stacked mode, the electrophoresis layer comprises a dispersion medium and a plurality of microspheres located in the dispersion medium, and the microspheres comprise charged spheres and metal layers located on the surfaces of the charged spheres.

Step 1302, acquire control component.

Step 1303, electrically connecting the control component with the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer.

In summary, the embodiment of the application provides a manufacturing method of a dimming device, which includes a dimming structure and a control component, and the microspheres including charged spheres and a metal layer located on the surface of the charged spheres are arranged in an electrophoresis layer of the dimming structure, so that the blocking capability of the microspheres to light is improved through the metal layer, and then the microspheres including the charged spheres can be controlled through the control component to control a first electrode layer and a second electrode layer outside the electrophoresis layer, so that the function of adjusting the transmittance of the dimming device to light is realized, the problem of poor dimming effect of the dimming device in the related art is solved, and the dimming effect of the dimming device is improved. In addition, the metal layer also has the blocking effect on infrared light, and the thermal effect of the infrared light is strong, so that the dimming device can also realize the adjusting function on the heat insulation effect.

An embodiment of the present application provides another method for manufacturing a dimming device, as shown in fig. 14, including:

step 1401, obtaining a glue material.

Referring to fig. 15, a layer of glue material 14 may be coated on the substrate 13 by a coating method, the substrate 13 may provide support for the glue material 14, the glue material 14 may be an organic glue material, the viscosity of the organic glue material is high, the glue material is easy to adhere to the surface of the charged sphere A1, and the organic glue material may be dissolved in a part of solvent, so that the glue material adhering to the surface of the charged sphere A1 is easily removed.

Step 1402, spraying the charged spheres onto the glue.

Referring to fig. 15, the charged sphere A1 is sprayed onto the glue material 14 along a direction perpendicular to the plane of the glue material 14, so as to achieve adhesion of the glue material 14 on the surface of the charged sphere A1, wherein the area covered by the glue material 14 on the surface of the charged sphere A1 is controllable, and the coverage area of the glue material 14 on the surface of the charged sphere A1 can be controlled by controlling the technological parameters of the spraying process, so that the charged sphere A1 with different metal layer coverage areas can be obtained.

Step 1403, forming a metal layer on the surface of the charged sphere.

And when the glue material exists in a part of the area of the surface of the charged sphere, the metal layer is formed in the area without the glue material of the surface of the charged sphere. The metal layer may be formed by sputtering (router), pulsed laser deposition (Pulsed Laser Deposition, PLD), electron beam evaporation, molecular beam epitaxy or evaporation; the thickness of the metal layer ranges from 10 nanometers to 1 micrometer. In addition, the material of the metal layer in this embodiment may be aluminum, which may reduce the cost, and the natural oxide layer formed in the environment may improve the service life.

Step 1404, removing the gel material to obtain the microsphere.

The charged spheres after the steps are soaked into a solvent capable of dissolving the gel material, so that the gel material can be removed, wherein the solvent can be acetone, ethanol, glass liquid and the like, and the charged spheres with the gel material removed are washed by deionized water and then dried, so that the microspheres are obtained, and the microspheres comprise the charged spheres and a metal layer positioned on the surfaces of the charged spheres.

Step 1405, disposing a plurality of microspheres in a dispersion medium to obtain an electrophoretic layer.

The plurality of microspheres are arranged in the dispersion medium, the electrophoresis layer can be sealed by adopting a sealing film, the sealing film is provided with a cavity, the dispersion medium and the plurality of microspheres can be arranged in the cavity of the sealing film in a sealing way through the sealing film, so that the electrophoresis layer is obtained, and the material of the sealing film can comprise a polypropylene film, polyurethane, polyacrylic acid, epoxy resin, silicone and the like.

For a dimming device comprising microcapsules, the microspheres may be dispersed in a dispersion medium to form an electrophoretic suspension, the electrophoretic suspension is encapsulated in the microcapsules by a complex coacervation method, the microcapsules are blended with a water-soluble binder to obtain a microcapsule slurry, and the microcapsule slurry containing the water-soluble binder may be uniformly coated on the first electrode layer by printing or spraying, so that an electrophoretic layer comprising a plurality of microcapsules may be formed.

Step 1406, obtaining a dimming structure.

A first electrode layer is disposed on the base layer. The first electrode layer and the second electrode layer can be obtained by performing patterning treatment on electrode materials, wherein the electrode materials can be Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO), a composite film layer (ITO/Ag/ITO) comprising indium tin oxide, silver and indium tin oxide, graphene, silver nanowires, metal grids and the like. And arranging the electrophoresis layer obtained by the steps on the first electrode layer, and arranging the second electrode layer on the electrophoresis layer. The first electrode layer and the second electrode layer may be bonded to the electrophoretic layer using an ultraviolet light curable adhesive. And the second electrode layer is provided with a packaging layer, the packaging layer can adopt glass, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), acrylic, polyimide (PI), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and other transparent substrate layers, and the packaging layer can also be coated with a transparent organic waterproof material on the transparent substrate layers, so that water vapor is further isolated.

Step 1407, acquiring a control component.

Step 1408, electrically connecting the control component to the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer.

The control component is electrically connected with the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer, and the electrophoresis layer is positioned between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer, so that the control component can adjust the blocking effect of the microsphere on light rays by controlling the voltages of the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer. In addition, because the microsphere includes the metal level, the metal level still has the function of blocking infrared light, and then this dimming device can also realize the regulatory function to thermal-insulated effect.

It is noted that in the drawings, the size of layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity of illustration. Moreover, it will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being "on" another element or layer, it can be directly on the other element or intervening layers may be present. In addition, it will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being "under" another element or layer, it can be directly under the other element or intervening layers or elements may be present. In addition, it will be understood that when a layer or element is referred to as being "between" two layers or elements, it can be the only layer between the two layers or elements, or more than one intervening layer or element may also be present. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

In the present disclosure, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance. The term "plurality" refers to two or more, unless explicitly defined otherwise.

In the several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present application is not intended to limit the application, but rather, the application is to be construed as limited to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A dimming device, the dimming device comprising: a dimming structure and a control assembly;

2. The dimming device of claim 1, wherein the charge of the charged sphere is homopolar, and wherein the orthographic projection of the metal layer on a first centerline of the charged sphere covers 50% -100% of the first centerline and covers at least one end of the first centerline, the first centerline being a line segment located within the charged sphere in a straight line passing through the center of the sphere of the charged sphere.

3. A dimmer device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the charged spheres have a diameter in the range 50 nm to 200 nm.

4. The dimming device of claim 1, wherein the charge of the charged sphere is an opposite charge, the orthographic projection of the metal layer on a first centerline of the charged sphere covers (2-/-2)/4-/-2+/-4 of the first centerline, and covers at least one end of the first centerline, the first centerline being a line segment within the charged sphere in a straight line passing through the center of the charged sphere.

5. A dimmer device as claimed in claim 4, wherein said charged spheres have a diameter in the range 10 microns to 100 microns.

6. A dimming device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thickness of the metal layer is in a range of 10 nm to 1 μm.

7. A dimmer device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the material of the metal layer comprises aluminium, copper, silver, platinum or molybdenum.

8. The dimmer device according to claim 1, wherein the microsphere further comprises a charge retention layer, the charge retention layer being located on a surface of the metal layer and surrounding the charged sphere.

9. A method of manufacturing a dimming device, the method comprising:

acquiring a control component;

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the obtaining a dimming structure comprises:

obtaining a glue material;

spraying the charged spheres onto the glue;

forming a metal layer on the surface of the charged sphere;

and removing the gel material to obtain the microsphere.