How windows can go from clear to opaque with the flip off a switch?
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I’m trying to figure out a good analogy for this to ELI5. The effect is something like changing the tilt on blinds, but the rearranging is happening on a molecular scale.
A little electricity passing through it excites all the electrons in a thin layer, which causes them to jump up into the layer above. That changes the ions present in each layer. Molecules interact and orient to each other based on the movement of and availability of electrons. With the electrons in an excited state, the orientation of the ions is not completely transparent, causing the darkening effect. When you turn off the current, the electrons return to their original place and the materials realign into an almost fully transparent arrangement.
Usually there are two or three pairs of these layers in a film applies to the glass window in order to increase the total effect.
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