A Theory of a Self-Assembling Electrovariable Smart Mirror

Abstract

A theory describing the forces governing the self-assembly of nanoparticles at the solid-liquid interface is developed. In the process, new theoretical results are derived to describe the effect that the field penetration of a point-like particle, into an electrode, has on the image potential energy, and pair interaction energy profiles at the electrode-electrolyte interface. The application of the theory is demonstrated for gold and ITO electrode systems, promising materials for novel colour-tuneable electrovariable smart mirrors and mirror-window devices respectively. Model estimates suggest that electrovariability is attainable in both systems and will act as a guide for future experiments. Lastly, the generalisability of the theory towards electrovariable, nanoplasmonic systems suggests that it may contribute towards the design of intelligent metamaterials with programmable properties.