AIST develops sheet that uses hydrogen to switch between transparent and mirror modes

One of the best ways to reduce your air-conditioning bill is stopping sunlight from entering a room. Reflecting the sunlight away from the windows is one way to do so. AIST recently came up with these revolutionary sheets that could soon replace our plain glass windows that we use today. The sheet is capable of transforming from a mirror to a transparent state. When required, the transparent sheet can simply be turned into a mirror, particularly during the day time, to reflect the sun away!

Here’s how it works. The concept uses an acrylic sheet on the back and the recently developed sheet on the front with a gap of 0.1mm separating the two. The gap is filled with hydrogen which allows users to switch between transparent and mirror modes. Also, this one’s quicker than electrochromic glass and takes just a few seconds to switch between states.