Nanomaterials for benign indoor environments:: Electrochromics for smart windows, sensors for air quality, and photo-catalysts for air cleaning

Nanomaterials can be used in a number of technologies in order to accomplish benign indoor environments. This paper takes a unified view on this problem from a solar-energy-based perspective and specifically considers electrochromics for achieving good day-lighting jointly with energy efficiency, sensors aimed at air quality assessment, and photocatalysis for air cleaning. Recent results, mainly from the authors' laboratories, are reported for all of these areas. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.