Surface hydrophobization of zeolite enables mass transfer matching in gas-liquid-solid three-phase hydrogenation under ambient pressure.

Attaining high hydrogenation performance under mild conditions, especially at ambient pressure, remains a considerable challenge due to the difficulty in achieving efficient mass transfer at the gas-liquid-solid three-phase interface. Here, we present a zeolite nanoreactor with joint gas-solid-liquid interfaces for boosting H2 gas and substrates to involve reactions. Specifically, the Pt active sites are encapsulated within zeolite crystals, followed by modifying the external zeolite surface with organosilanes. The silane sheath with aerophilic/hydrophobic properties can promote the diffusion of H2 and the mass transfer of reactant/product molecules. In aqueous solutions, the gaseous H2 molecules can rapidly diffuse into the zeolite channels, thereby augmenting H2 concentration surround Pt sites. Simultaneously, the silane sheath with lipophilicity nature promotes the enrichment of the aldehydes/ketones on the catalyst and facilitates the hydrophilia products of alcohol rediffusion back to the aqueous phase. By modifying the wettability of the catalyst, the hydrogenation of aldehydes/ketones can be operated in water at ambient H2 pressure, resulting in a noteworthy turnover frequency up to 92.3 h-1 and a 4.3-fold increase in reaction rate compared to the unmodified catalyst.

Cellulose phosphonate/polyethyleneimine nano-porous composite remove toxic Pb(II) and Cu(II) from water in a short time.

Current cellulose-based adsorbents suffer from the drawbacks of low adsorption capacity or slow adsorption rate for heavy metal ions. It is imperative to prepare new cellulose-based materials to improve the adsorption ability. In this work, we aim to introduce phosphonate groups to improve the adsorption ability of cellulose and select polyethyleneimine (PEI) for synergistic adsorption. A novel cellulose phosphonate/polyethyleneimine composite (MCCP-PEI) is prepared via the Mannich reaction. The structure and composition of MCCP-PEI are characterized by various advanced microscopy and spectroscopy techniques, and the results show that MCCP-PEI possesses abundant nano-porous structure, strong chelating sites, and excellent hydrophilicity. Besides, the adsorption behavior of MCCP-PEI for heavy metals has been systematically investigated. The results show that the adsorbent can quickly remove toxic Cu(II) and Pb(II) from water within 15 min and 20 min, respectively. The saturated adsorption capacity for Cu(II) and Pb(II) is 250.0 and 534.7 mg·g-1, respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis combined with Density Functional Theory calculations reveal that the adsorption mechanism is chemical complexation and electrostatic attraction, and the phosphonate group plays a key role in the adsorption process.

Recent Advances in Light-Conversion Phosphors for Plant Growth and Strategies for the Modulation of Photoluminescence Properties.

The advent of greenhouses greatly promoted the development of modern agriculture, which freed plants from regional and seasonal constraints. In plant growth, light plays a key role in plant photosynthesis. The photosynthesis of plants can selectively absorb light, and different light wavelengths result in different plant growth reactions. Currently, light-conversion films and plant-growth LEDs have become two effective ways to improve the efficiency of plant photosynthesis, among which phosphors are the most critical materials. This review begins with a brief introduction of the effects of light on plant growth and the various techniques for promoting plant growth. Next, we review the up-to-date development of phosphors for plant growth and discussed the luminescence centers commonly used in blue, red and far-red phosphors, as well as their photophysical properties. Then, we summarize the advantages of red and blue composite phosphors and their designing strategies. Finally, we describe several strategies for regulating the spectral position of phosphors, broadening the emission spectrum, and improving quantum efficiency and thermal stability. This review may offer a good reference for researchers improving phosphors to become more suitable for plant growth.

Interfacial Reaction-Directed Green Synthesis of CeO2-MnO2 Catalysts for Imine Production through Oxidative Coupling of Alcohols and Amines.

Direct oxidative coupling of alcohols with amines over cheap but efficient catalysts is a promising choice for imine formation. In this study, porous CeO2-MnO2 binary oxides were prepared via an interfacial reaction between Ce2(SO4)3 and KMnO4 at room temperature without any additives. The as-prepared porous CeO2-MnO2 catalyst has a higher fraction of Ce3+, Mn3+, and Mn4+ and contains larger surface area and more oxygen vacancies. During the oxidative coupling reaction of alcohol with amine to imine, the as-obtained CeO2-MnO2 catalyst is motivated by the above encouraging characteristics and exhibits superior catalytic activity (98% conversion and 97% selectivity) and can also work effectively under a wide scope of temperatures and substrates. The in-depth in situ DRIFTS and density functional theory (DFT) results demonstrate that there is a strong interaction between CeO2 and MnO2 in the CeO2-MnO2 catalyst, exhibiting especially a positive synergistic effect in the direct coupling of alcohol and amine reaction.

Controllable synthesis of magic cube-like Ce-MOF-derived Pt/CeO2 catalysts for formaldehyde oxidation.

Controllable synthesis of MOFs with desired structures is of great significance to deepen the understanding of the crystal nucleation-growth mechanism and deliver unique structural features to their derived metal oxides with target catalytic applications. In this study, NH2-Ce-BDC with morphology similar to a second-order magic cube (mc) is facile synthesized via H+ mediation in nucleation and growth stages. The pertinent variables that can greatly influence the formation of magic cube-like structures (MCS) were investigated, in which the concentric diffusion field was found to be one of the key factors. Upon calcination, the derived CeO2 inherits unique gullies and grooves located on the pristine MOFs surface, which is quite useful for atomic layer deposition (ALD) of platinum (Pt) nanoparticles because of strong interaction with MOF-derived CeO2 (mc-CeO2). XPS, H2-TPR, Raman, and in situ DRIFTS characterization results show that there is a stronger interaction between Pt and mc-CeO2 in mc-Pt/CeO2 compared with c-Pt/CeO2 that is derived from the well-developed cubic Ce-MOFs. Furthermore, Pt2+ ions, hydroxyl oxygen, and oxygen defects in mc-Pt/CeO2 account highly for exemplary catalytic activity toward HCHO oxidation.

Synthesis of flower-like MnO2 nanostructure with freshly prepared Cu particles and electrochemical performance in supercapacitors.

Four types of flowerlike manganese dioxide in nano scale was synthesized via a liquid phase method in KMnO4-H2SO4 solution and Cu particles, wherein the effect of Cu particles was investigated in detail. The obtained manganese dioxide powder was characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM, and the supercapacity properties of MnO2 electrode materials were measured. The results showed that doping carbon black can benefit to better dispersion of copper particles, resulting in generated smaller size of Cu particles, and the morphology of MnO2 nanoparticles was dominated by that of Cu particles. The study of MnO2 synthesis by different sources of Cu particles showed that the size of MnO2 particles decreased significantly with freshly prepared fine copper powder compared with using commercial Cu powder, and the size of MnO2 particles can be further reduced to 120 nm by prepared Cu particles with smaller size. Therefore, it was suggested that the copper particles served as not only the reductant and but also the nuclei centre for the growth of MnO2 particles in synthesis process MnO2, and that is the reason how copper particles worked on the growth of flower-like MnO2 and electrochemical property. In the part of investigation for electrochemical property, the calculated results of b values indicated that the electrode materials have pseudo capacitance property, and the highest specific capacitance of 197.2 F g-1 at 2 mV s-1 and 148 F/g at 1 A/g were obtained for MCE electrode materials (MnO2 was synthesized with freshly prepared copper particles, where carbon black was used and dispersed in ethanol before preparation of Cu particles). The values of charge transfer resistance in all types of MnO2 materials electrodes were smaller than 0.08 Ω. The cycling retention of MCE material electrode is still kept as 93.8% after 1000 cycles.

Temperature-triggered fluorocopolymer aggregate coating switching from antibacterial to antifouling and superhydrophobic hemostasis.

The multifunction antibacterial hemostatic materials can reduce blood loss, infection and wound complications, which probably decrease morbidity and health care costs. However, the contradictory relationship between antibacterial ability and biocompatibility, and the unnecessary blood loss restricts the practical application of hydrophilic cationic antibacterial hemostatic materials. Herein, a multifunctional temperature-triggered antibacterial hemostatic fluorocopolymer aggregate coating was developed. After self-assembly and quaternization process, the quaternized poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate)-b-poly(1H,1H,2H,2H-heptadecafluorodecyl acrylate) block copolymers (PDMA-b-PFOEMA) aggregate coating consisting of fluoropolymer and quaternary ammonium salt were built. The synergistic effect on fluorinated block with low surface energy and quaternary ammonium salt block with bactericide activity severs the way of initial bacterial attachment and proliferation, while the migration of fluorinated block greatly promotes the biocompatibility and anti-adhesion performance in response to the switch from room temperature to physiological temperature. Furthermore, the fluorocopolymer aggregate coating with hydrophobic properties possessed the property of rapid coagulation, low blood loss, minor secondary bleeding and least bacteria infiltration. The multifunctional temperature-triggered fluorocopolymer aggregate coating with antifouling, antibacterial and hemostatic properties may have a great potential in the biomedical application.

Multistimuli-Responsive Squaraine Dyad Exhibiting Concentration-Controlled Vapochromic Luminescence.

Stimuli-responsive organic materials with controllable luminescence are of enormous importance because of their potential applications in sensing, data security, and display devices. In this study, a multistimuli-responsive squaraine dyad (SQ-d) composed of two rigid squaraine moieties and a flexible ethylene linker was rationally designed and synthesized. SQ-d exhibits polymorphic luminescence, which can be reversibly switched by various external stimuli, including solvent vapor exposure, heat, and shear force. Unexpectedly, the weakly luminescent phase (O1) of SQ-d exhibits concentration-controlled vapochromic behavior. Film O1 can convert to a highly green-emissive phase (G1) under a low concentration of CHCl3 vapor and convert to a highly yellow-emissive phase (Y) under a high concentration of CHCl3 vapor; these originate from two distinct crystallization-induced emission enhancement processes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first investigation of the effect of vapor concentration on the phase transitions of organic vapochromic luminophores. By analyzing the single-crystal structures and photophysical properties of SQ-d, we concluded that the green and yellow emissions probably originated from a zigzag stacking mode and an H-type π-π stacking mode, respectively. Finally, two prototypes based on SQ-d for applications in information encryption and vapor sensing were successfully demonstrated.

Synergistic Effect of Au-PdO Modified Cu-Doped K2W4O13 Nanowires for Dual Selectivity High Performance Gas Sensing.

Both 3-hydroxy-2-butanone and triethylamine are highly toxic and harmful to human health, and their chronic inhalation can cause respiratory diseases, eye lesions, dermatitis, headache, dizziness, drowsiness, and even fatality. Developing sensors for detecting such toxic gases with low power consumption, high response with superselectivity, and stability is crucial for healthcare and environmental monitoring. This study presents a typical gas sensor fabricated based on AuPdO modified Cu-doped K2W4O13 nanowires, which can selectively detect 3-hydroxy-2-butanone and triethylamine at 120 and 200 °C, respectively. The sensor displays excellent sensing performance at reduced operating temperature, high selectivity, fast response/recovery, and stability, which can be attributed to a synergistic effect of Cu dopants and AuPdO nanoparticles on the K2W4O13 host. The enhanced sensing response and selectivity could be attributed to the oxygen vacancies/defects, bandgap excitation, the electronic sensitization, the reversible redox reaction of PdO and Cu, the cocatalytic activity of AuPdO, and Schottky barrier contacts at the interface of tungsten oxide and Au. The significant variations in the activation capacities of Cu-doped K2W4O13, Pd/PdO, and Au nanoparticles toward 3H-2B and TEA, and the diffusion depth of the two gases in the coated sensing layer may cause dual selectivity. The designed gas sensor materials can serve as a sensitive target for detecting toxic biomarkers and hold broad application prospects in food and environmental safety inspection.

Ultrafast and efficient removal of Pb(II) from acidic aqueous solution using a novel polyvinyl alcohol superabsorbent.

The direct removal of heavy metal ions from acidic wastewater is a hard problem. In this study, a novel superabsorbent, polyvinyl alcohol phosphate ester (PVAP), was designed and prepared to remove Pb(II) from acidic wastewater (pH = 3). The PVAP can absorb water and swell to reach equilibrium within 30 s, which provides the conditions for ultrafast kinetic adsorption. For 100 mg/L Pb(II) solution, the adsorption reaches equilibrium within 5 min, and the removal ratio is more than 99.9% over a wide pH range of 3-6. Adsorption kinetics and isotherm data are consistent with pseudo-second-order and Langmuir model, respectively. The calculated maximum adsorption capacity for Pb(II) is 558.66 mg/g. Thermodynamic results show that the adsorption is spontaneous and exothermic process. The removal ratio for Pb(II) of PVAP still maintains above 99% after ten recycles. The PVAP can also simultaneously remove more than 97% of other heavy metal ions (Cu(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), Co(II), and Ni(II)) from an acidic solution. Moreover, the PVAP can efficiently purify simulated acid mine heavy metal wastewater, and the results meet EPA drinking water standards. The studies of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy prove that the adsorption mechanism involves surface complexation. This new superabsorbent is a promising candidate for acidic heavy metal sewage disposal.

Highly dispersed Pt species anchored onto NH2-Ce-MOFs and their derived mesoporous catalysts for CO oxidation.

Simultaneously maximizing the dispersion of noble metals and demonstrating optimal activity are of significant importance for designing stable metal catalysts. In this study, highly dispersed ultrafine platinum (Pt) particles with a size of <1.5 nm anchored onto a mesoporous CeO2 structure have been synthesized by coordinating Pt ions with amino groups in NH2-Ce-MOFs, followed by high-temperature calcination. It was found that the presence of -NH2 groups in Ce-MOFs played a crucial role in anchoring Pt species with high dispersion on the MOF framework. Interestingly, the anchored Pt species were beneficial for the formation of Ce-Pt sites during the conversion from Ce-BDC to CeO2. As a result, the as-prepared catalysts held dense surface peroxo species, responsible for boosting CO oxidation at low temperatures.

Development of a General Fabrication Strategy for Carbonaceous Noble Metal Nanocomposites with Photothermal Property.

This study demonstrates a simple hydrothermal method while can be generalized for controllable synthesis of noble metallic carbonaceous nanostructures (e.g., Au@C, Ag@C) under mild conditions (180-200 °C), which also provides a unique approach for fabricating hollow carbonaceous structures by removal of cores (e.g., silver) via a redox etching process. The microstructure and composition of the as-achieved nanoparticles have been characterized using various microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), serving as a surfactant in the reaction system, plays a key role in the formation of Ag@C, Au@C nanocables, and their corresponding hollow carbonaceous nanotubes in this work. The dynamic growth and formation mechanism of carbonaceous nanostructures was discussed in detail. And finally, laser-induced photothermal property of Au@C nanocomposites was examined. The results may be useful for designing and constructing carbonaceous metal(s) or metal oxide(s) nanostructures with potential applications in the areas of electrochemical catalysis, energy storage, adsorbents, and biomedicine. This study demonstrate a facile hydrothermal synthesis of noble metal carbonaceous nanocomposites (e.g., Au@C) with simple procedures under mild conditions, which can be25expanded as a general method for preparing diverse carbonaceous core-shell nanoparticles. The Au@C carbonaceous nanostructures exhibit interesting UV-Vis properties dependent upon shell thickness.

Holey Assembly of Two-Dimensional Iron-Doped Nickel-Cobalt Layered Double Hydroxide Nanosheets for Energy Conversion Application.

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) containing first-row transition metals such as Fe, Co, and Ni have attracted significant interest for electrocatalysis owing to their abundance and excellent performance for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline media. Herein, the assembly of holey iron-doped nickel-cobalt layered double hydroxide (NiCo-LDH) nanosheets ('holey nanosheets') is demonstrated by employing uniform Ni-Co glycerate spheres as self-templates. Iron doping was found to increase the rate of hydrolysis of Ni-Co glycerate spheres and induce the formation of a holey interconnected sheet-like structure with small pores (1-10 nm) and a high specific surface area (279 m2 g-1 ). The optimum Fe-doped NiCo-LDH OER catalyst showed a low overpotential of 285 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 and a low Tafel slope of 62 mV dec-1 . The enhanced OER activity was attributed to (i) the high specific surface area of the holey nanosheets, which increases the number of active sites, and (ii) the improved kinetics and enhanced ion transport arising from the iron doping and synergistic effects.

Effect of Al, Ti and Cr Doping on Vanadium Dioxide (VO2) Analyzed by Density Function Theory (DFT) Method.

Density function theory (DFT) method was developed and applied for fundamentally understanding the doping effect of various metals (Al, Ti and Cr) on vanadium dioxide (VO2). The substitution doping of Al, Ti and Cr in VO2 could lead to significant changes in electronic structure, band gap and optical property. Different from physical experiments, the DFT method could be utilized for fundamental understandings at an atomic scale. It was found via DFT calculations that: (i) Al doping caused a slightly distorted octahedron in monoclinic VO2(M), and narrowed the band gap of VO2(M) due to the upward shift of the valence band (VB), while Cr doping narrowed the band gap because of the downward shift of the conduction band (CB); (ii) Ti doping slightly widened the band gap of VO2(M); and (iii) the optical reflectivity of VO2(M) decreased after substitution doping low-valent metals (e.g., Al). This study will be beneficial for designing and controlling elemental doping to obtain metal oxide nanocomposites with unique band gap and electronic structure for thermochromic energy saving applications.

Glycothermal Synthesis of VO2(B) Nanoparticles for Gas Sensing Application.

This study represents a facile but efficient glycothermal method for synthesis of vanadium dioxide, VO2(B) nanoparticles with various geometries from spheres to rods, flakes or their agglomeration structures, by controlling reaction conditions (e.g., vanadium resources, reducing agents and surfactants). The as-prepared VO2(B) nanoparticles were characterized in microstructure and composition, and also examined in terms of gas sensing performance. It was found that the VO2(B) nanoparticles exhibit a good sensitivity towards alcohols (ethanol, isopropanol, and butanol) and acetone at the optimised operating temperature of 300 °C. The gas sensing performance was further compared with other vanadium oxides investigated previously, such as V2O5, Na1.08V3O8. The plausible gas sensing mechanism of the as-prepared nanoparticles was discussed in detail. This study would expand the family of vanadium oxides that can be made as potential sensors for applications in detecting environmental safety and human health.

Fluorine and tin co-doping synergistically improves the photoelectrochemical water oxidation performance of TiO2 nanorod arrays by enhancing the ultraviolet light conversion efficiency.

Fluorine and tin co-doped rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays are grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrates by a hydrothermal process and are used as photoanodes to perform photoelectrochemical water oxidation. Fluorine and tin co-doping synergistically enhances the ultraviolet light conversion efficiency of the resulting TiO2, which enables its photocurrent density of photoelectrochemical water oxidation to be more than four times that of the undoped samples. Such improvement in photoelectrochemical performance is attributed to changes in the electronic structure of the rutile TiO2 due to fluorine and tin co-doping. It is found that introducing tin into the matrix of rutile TiO2 can improve the charge separation efficiency because of the enhanced migration of photogenerated electrons from the conduction band of TiO2 to that of SnO2 that occurs at local sites, while fluorine doping can greatly reduce the recombination of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs due to the presence of the Ti3+ state that is produced to compensate for the charge difference between F- ions and O2- ions. It is envisaged that the fluorine and tin co-doped TiO2 nanorod arrays described will provide valuable platforms for wide photocatalytic applications that are not merely limited to photoelectrochemical water oxidation.

In situ construction of yolk-shell zinc ferrite with carbon and nitrogen co-doping for highly efficient solar light harvesting and improved catalytic performance.

In this work, carbon and nitrogen co-doped yolk-shell ZnFe2O4 nanostructures (CN-ZnFe2O4) were successfully synthesized through a facile self-templated method with in situ doping strategy. A series of characterizations were processed to present a comprehensive properties of the as-prepared photocatalyst samples. Doping amount could be moderated by the addition mass of dopamine, which was regarded as both the carbon and nitrogen source. And the void space between yolk and shell could be adjusted by heating rates in the calcination process of precursors. With an excellent separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and transfer efficiency of photogenerated electrons, the obtained CN-ZnFe2O4 sample exhibited an enhanced visible light response than ZnFe2O4. And their photocatalytic performances towards gaseous 1, 2-dichlorobenzene (o-DCB) was also systematically studied. The results demonstrated that the CN-ZnFe2O4 sample with 100 mg dopamine addition and 20 °C/min calcination heating rate exhibited the best o-DCB degradation efficiency. In situ Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was also recorded to give a detailed information of intermediate products and reveal the mechanism of photocatalytic degradation towards o-DCB. Particularly, density functional theory (DFT) calculation was used to further study the electronic structure of prepared samples to support the experimental results and especially explain the mechanism of enhanced photocatalytic activity through a proposed lattice junction. Additionally, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) technique was carried out to prove the reactive oxygen species involved in the photodegradation process. This work not only presents a promising strategy in photocatalyst fabrication but also provides a new sight of enhanced photocatalysis mechanism.

Normal Reference Intervals of Neutrophil-To-Lymphocyte Ratio, Platelet-To-Lymphocyte Ratio, Lymphocyte-To-Monocyte Ratio, and Systemic Immune Inflammation Index in Healthy Adults: a Large Multi-Center Study from Western China.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have shown that the hematological components of the systemic inflammatory response, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and the systemic immune inflammation index (SII) are efficient prognostic indicators in patients with cancers. Most of the studies did not investigate the reference intervals (RIs) of these parameters in healthy controls. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed on healthy ethnic Han population aged between 18 and 79 years of age by retrieving the data from a healthy routine examination center database and laboratory infor-mation system of four participating centers in western China. By following the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), RIs of each parameter was established and validated. RESULTS: The analysis included 5,969 healthy subjects. We found that the individual's gender can significantly influence PLR, LMR, and SII (all p < 0.05), but not NLR (p > 0.05). Surprisingly, we also found that with an increase in age, the PLR, LMR, and SII tend to decrease, while NLR remained stable. PLR, LMR, and SII values were significantly higher in the young adults (18 - 64 years) than in old adults (65 - 79 years) (p < 0.001). The RIs of NLR, PLR (adults), PLR (old adults), LMR and SII were 0.88 - 4.0, 49 - 198, 42 - 187, 2.63 - 9.9, 142 x 109/L - 804 x 109/L, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our study addresses possible variations and establishes consensus for the NLR, PLR, LMR, and SII RIs for healthy Han Chinese adults in western China. Further, established RIs can standardize clinical applications and promote the use of these indicators into the routine complete blood count report.

Electrodeposited Vanadium Dioxide Films with Unique Optical Property.

This study represents a facile but effective electrodeposition method to fabricate vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin films on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass at room temperature. The film microstructure (thickness, surface structure, particle size and composition) and relevant optical properties were investigated by several advanced techniques. The pertinent variables that can affect the thin film formation and structure, such as deposition potential, time and post-treatment annealing temperature were also studied. It was found that the film thickness could be tuned from 35 to 130 nm by adjusting the potential from -1.22 to -1.35 V, and consequently leading to optical transmittance decreasing from ∼60% to ∼38% in the wavelength of 500-1000 nm, further confirmed by computational simulations using three-dimension (3D) finite-difference time-domain method. The hysteresis loop of the generated VO2 film on FTO glass shows that the phase transition temperature from monoclinic to rutile is around 73 °C, a little higher than pure monoclinic VO2 (∼68 °C) in this study. This proposed electrodeposition method is possible to extend into obtaining metal oxide films with tuneable surface properties for thermochromic smart devices.

VO2 /TiN Plasmonic Thermochromic Smart Coatings for Room-Temperature Applications.

Vanadium dioxide/titanium nitride (VO2 /TiN) smart coatings are prepared by hybridizing thermochromic VO2 with plasmonic TiN nanoparticles. The VO2 /TiN coatings can control infrared (IR) radiation dynamically in accordance with the ambient temperature and illumination intensity. It blocks IR light under strong illumination at 28 °C but is IR transparent under weak irradiation conditions or at a low temperature of 20 °C. The VO2 /TiN coatings exhibit a good integral visible transmittance of up to 51% and excellent IR switching efficiency of 48% at 2000 nm. These unique advantages make VO2 /TiN promising as smart energy-saving windows.