Figure 7. Changing the amount of gold in the film dramatically effects the colour.

The figure shows some of the different colour coatings that can be produced from gold / vanadium dioxide nano-composites. The far left shows a tungsten doped vanadium dioxide coating - a pretty horrible yellow/brown colour that i don't think anyone would want on their window. As we introduce gold nano-particles into the film the colour changes as the surface plasmon resonance center shifts. We can effectively choose the colour of the film by determining the surface plasmon resonance center. This is a function of nano-particle size and distribution which we can control by changing the nano-particle concentration in our aerosol precursor flask.

Using the hybrid method we can produce films with a variety of different colours such as greens, yellows and blues.