No, the internal PDLC layer is plastic and does not conduct electricity, since it is electrically insulated. Rather, it behaves more like a capacitor, where the applied signal alternates between positive and negative voltages at the plates of the capacitor, causing an alternating electric field throughout the PDLC dielectric, which is what aligns the liquid crystals with the frequency of the signal (normally 50 Hz or 60 Hz).
More related
Why does PDLC require a polymer?
The polymer allows the liquid crystals to be embedded into a film, which can then be sandwiched between panels of glass or plastic. The polymer has constant optical properties which do not vary across its structure, and hence is considered isotropic. In contrast, the liquid crystal itself is anisotropic, since its optical characteristics are not constant across its structure, but rather can vary under application of an electric field.
How To Install The Self-Adhesive Smart Film?
Step 1.Preparation of Smart Film
1.1 Take out the self-adhesive smart film from the package carefully.
1.2 Put the dust cloth to a dust-free open space unroll the smart film and lay it flat.
Step 2.Preparation of Glass
2.1 Check the glass and make sure if there are adhesive strips and any other obstacle on the edge of the glass.
2.2 If there are adhesive strips remove or cut off them around the glass.
2.3 Caution: Don't scratch the glass when you remove the strips.
2.4 Pick up the right film confirm the film size according to the size of glass.
2.5 Spray clean water or water with detergent on the glass.
2.6 Clean the glass with a blade make sure there's no dust or stain on the surface.
2.7 Wipe the water off the surface of glass.
2.8 Spray some water-free alcohol on the surface of the glass or use a clean cloth contained alcohol to wipe the surface of glass and the frame.
2.9 Make sure that the glass surface is clean and free of water.
Step 3.Film Installation
3.1 Take the film and peel off the protective liner for 5 centimeter.
3.2 Align the film with glass and press the film on the glass slowly.Press the film to the surface of glass a few times slowly with a squeezer.
3.3 Caution: Don't spry water or detergent solution on the glass or film during installation of smart film.
3.4 Peel off the protective liner slowly for 3 to 5 centimeter each time and press the film with squeezer.
3.5 Squeeze the film step by step and make sure there's no bubble left between the film and glass.Repeat the action continuously until the film installed.
3.6 In case there's bubble or dirt between the film and glass peel off the film from glass and remove the dirt.
3.7 If the dirt is on the film adhesive side take a knife or other tool to pick up the dirt.If the dirt is on the glass wipe the glass with a clean cloth with alcohol.
3.8 After removal of dirt press the film on the glass and squeeze it on the glass.
3.9 Caution：The self-adhesive film could be peel off several times and the adhesive will still work.However we don't recommend it for more than 3 times.
3.10 If the self-adhesive film is too big you can cut the film with scissor or knife to the correct size.
3.11 Wipe the cutting edge with a clean cloth with water-free alcohol to avoid short-circuiting caused by rough edge.
3.12 Check the installed smart film in case the bubble or dirt spot peel off the part and reinstall it.
Step 4.Wiring and Sealant
4.1 Connect the bus-bars with wires and wrap the wire joints with insulating tape.
4.2 Use Eva hot melt sealant to fix the wires to the edges of frame and film as designed.
4.3 Peel off the protective liner from the outside of smart film.
4.4 In order to prevent water from entering the self-adhesive film from the edge it is necessary to apply sealant on the edge.GE381 silicone Weather-proofing sealant is our recommended edge sealant.
Step 5.Final Cleaning
5.1 Clean the surroundings and enjoy the smart film.
5.2 If you want to get more informaion, please feel free to visit globalsmartglass.com.
https://globalsmartglass.com: Switch the smart glass,switch to a new world.
Tools：Dust-free cloth, Square resistance meter, Tape measure, Alcohol, Solder, Scissors, Film spliter, Copper foil, Tape, Brush, Silver paste, Marker pen, Squeegee, Electric soldering iron, Heat gun,Pins, Pliers
Step1: Film preparation.Lay the smart film on the glass table.
Step2: Mark busbars position.Measure and mark the position of the busbar according to the drawings on the side that busbar to be installed. The distance between the two busbars is 5-10cm and each busbar should be as long as possible.
Step3: Cut upper layer PET.Align the edge of the smart film with the glass, start from one end with the film splitter, and cut the upper layer of PET to the marked position.
Step4: Wipe off liquid crystal. Use a dust-free cloth dipped in alcohol to wipe off the liquid crystal exposed after cutting off the PET.
Note: Wipe gently, not only to remove all the liquid crystal , but also not to damage the conductive ITO.
Step5: Check ITO resistance. Use the square resistance meter to select at least 3 different points to measure the ITO after wiping, and the value should be less than 250 ohm, otherwise, the ITO may be damaged and thus the smart film may not work properly.
Step6: Apply tape. Stick the tape at a distance of 5-6mm from the edge of the film to cover the liquid crystal between the lower layer of ITO and the upper layer of PET, so as to prevent the silver paste from applying this gap and causing a short circuit.
Step7: Apply silver paste evenly to cleaned ITO.
Step8: Dry the silver paste with the heat gun. The heating temperature is about 70-100℃.
Step9: Tear off the tape pasted after heating.
Step10: Apply the copper foil carefully on the dried silver paste.
Step12: Cut off the excess part of the copper foil. In order to avoid the edges from lifting, the sharp corners of both the copper foil and the smart film are cut off.
Step13: Turn the smart film over and make another busbar according to the previous steps.
Step14: Pinning: use pliers to drive the pin into the connecting copper foil and smart film to make sure the copper foil stay with smart film.At least 2 pins for each busbars.
Step15: Solder the leads: Use a soldering iron to solder leads of the suitable length on the pin.
Step16: Power-on test: 1. Continuous power-on, power-off cycle 10 times; 2. Continuous power-on for 20 minutes. After test, check if there's any defect such as over heat and black spots.
Step17: Roll up the smart film for transport or storage.
If you want to get more informaion, please feel free to visit globalsmartglass.com.
https://globalsmartglass.com:Switch the smart glass,switch to a new world.
