Overview
Comfort plays an increasingly important role in the interior design of airplanes. Comfort comprises many aspects including temperature and lighting in the cabin. In this context, the overall objective of the IN-LIGHT project is to contribute to the improvement of the passengers' comfort through the development of a new concept of bifunctional aircraft window combining the following technologies: Electrochromism and Transparent OLED lighting (TOLED).
Electrochromic technology will allow the passenger to control the amount of heat and sun-light coming through the window, switching from a transparent colourless state to a deeply coloured transparent state. Additionally, a TOLED lighting system, also controllable by the passenger, will be integrated in the window offering a very innovative type of interior ambient lighting in the cabin with novel aesthetic effects. The technologies to be used will introduce significant breakthroughs compared to the existing smart shading systems, such as a low manufacturing cost, compatibility with plastic substrates, low power consumption and improved performance, in terms of switching speed and cyclability / lifetime.
The new smart aircraft window, intended to be developed within the IN-LIGHT project, adds significant value to conventional windows and will contribute to the passenger's comfort enabling a tailored cabin environment in terms of heat and light transmittance, as well as ambient lighting based on individual preferences.
The work is being performed by a highly complementary, well-balanced consortium of ten partners from six EU Member States and one partner from Canada, representing the entire value chain.
The overall objective of the IN-LIGHT (Innovative bifunctional aircraft window for lighting control to enhance passenger comfort) project is to improve passengers' comfort through the development of a new concept of bifunctional aircraft window which will combine two technologies: Electrochromism and Transparent OLED lighting (TOLED).
In order to ensure fast and homogeneous coloration / bleaching, mainly in large-area devices, IN-LIGHT project involves the preparation of viologen-based electrochromic semiconducting nanoparticles as well as high performance TCO (transparent conducting oxide) sheets with low resistivity (6-13 ohms-sq) onto plastic substrates. Achieving of highly transparent (90% VIS transmittance) electrochromic nanostructured coatings onto conducting plastics through low temperature processes represents one of the main technical objectives of the IN-LIGHT project.
Also, the development of suitable high transparent solid electrolytes with high ionic conductivity (s>10-5 S/cm) and optimal adhesion which will be suitable for low temperature operation is another aim of the project.
Another important objective of the IN-LIGHT project involves the development of a UV stabiliser concept tailored to the needs and requirements posed by viologen stability and aircraft cabin window components. In addition, the project aims at determining the UV filtering efficacy of substrates and coatings. Moreover, the IN-LIGHT project targets to achieve fabrication of the aircraft window prototypes (targeted size: 30×40 cm²) through scaling-up materials and processes.
The EC technology, to be developed within the IN-LIGHT project, is expected to achieve the ambitious targets which have been set in terms of transparency (75% VIS transmittance), optical contrast (ΔT% between coloured and bleached state over 60%), switching time (below 1s) and cyclability (up to 85.000 cycles). Also, within the IN-LIGHT project, a TOLED stack with altogether five functional layers (ANODE-HIL-ELM-ETLCATHODE) is expected to be manufactured through the use of high-throughput wet and/or vacuum deposition technologies and will reach an overall transparency of over 65%. Moreover, the IN-LIGHT project involves the development of a TOLED device with efficiency above 10 cd/A and lifetime above 50.000 hours. If state-of-the-art OLED emitter materials become available for project use, the lifetime of the TOLED device may exceed 100.000 hours. Finally, TOLED element / display is expected to be integr
IN-LIGHT focuses on challenges posed by the development of new bifunctional smart aircraft windows combining two technologies (Electrochromism and TOLED lighting). IN-LIGHT aims to develop a high performance plastic electrochromic aircraft window based on modified transparent nanostructured electrodes processed at low temperatures (below 120ºC). TOLED systems will be integrated in the window, being invisible in the off state and providing a very innovative type of lighting for the interior of the cabin offering novel aesthetic effects with high form factor and freedom of design.
The challenges which will be addressed within the IN-LIGHT project fall into one of the following categories:
- Electrochromic technology
- Electrochromic devices components
- All-solid Plastic electrochromic windows
- TOLED Technology
The IN-LIGHT project is divided into eight Work Packages (WPs) covering RTD, Management and Dissemination and Exploitation activities. The RTD activities make up the main work effort and cover the necessary research, development, characterisation, evaluation and validation of the project's innovative ideas, while they also provide mechanisms for the dissemination and exploitation of results.
The project will also dedicate substantial efforts to Dissemination and Exploitation activities, to actively disseminate the knowledge generated in the project as well as to integrate any external knowledge detected in the related fields.
There are inter-dependencies between WPs and between the partners involved in each activity. This integrational approach is anticipated to create strong synergies and assure effective information between the different activities.