Conducting electrochromic display, application

The enormous efforts put into the basic research and development of conducting polymers are naturally related to hopes of feasible technical apphcations The starting point of this development was the discovery that PA can fimction as an active electrode in a rechargeable polymer battery. Since then, the prospects of technical application have grown considerably Apart from the battery electrode, conducting polymers are discussed as potential electrochromic displays... 

Electrolytes for Electrochromic Devices Liquids are generally used as electrolytes in electrochemical research, but they are not well suited for practical devices (such as electrochromic displays, fuel cells, etc.) because of problems with evaporation and leakage. For this reason, solid electrolytes with single-ion conductivity are commonly used (e.g., Nafion membranes with proton conductivity. In contrast to fuel cells in electrochromic devices, current densities are much lower, so for the latter application, a high conductivity value is not a necessary requirement for the electrolyte. 

The development of conducting polymers is naturally related to hopes of feasible technical applications. Thus, conducting polymers are discussed as active battery electrodes [10], electrochromic displays (BCD) [11], anticorrosives [12], sensors [13], electrocatalysts [14], antistatic materials [15], or light-emitting materials (OLED) [16],... 

Sotzing [2] prepared intrinsically conducting water-borne dispersions of poly (thieno[3,4-b]thiophene) homopolymer, (II), and copolymers of thieno[3,4-b] thiophene and 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene, (111), for electroactive applications including electrochromic displays, optically transparent electrodes, and antistatic coatings. 

As an environmentally stable conducting polymer, polyaniline has been recognized as a potential candidate for application in secondary battery electrodes, sensors, electrochromic display devices, microelectronics, ion-exchange resins etc. [151-161]. 

Proton conducting perovskite oxides are the subject of numerous current studies, as these materials have a potential use in a number of electrochemical applications, including fuel cells, electrochromic displays and hydrogen sensors. Perovskite... 

Conjugated conducting polymers, not new to the field of electrochromics, have experienced a surge of interest for their applications in electrochromic displays and windows in the past decade. Yet, much recent work has focused on utilization of these materials in areas outside the typical display/window device, such as the previously mentioned mechanical actuators, LEDs, photovoltaics, capacitors, and antistatic coatings. Meanwhile, the field of electrochromics of conducting polymers sees the introduction of new polymers with ever-improving physical properties, such as processability and environmental stability, in a wide range of colors and spectral properties. 

Although conducting polymers have potential for many applications such as electrochromic displays and battery electrodes, the necessary technology has yet to be developed fully. 

Extensive studies on polyaniline (PANI) have been carried out in the last five years. Some unique features related to PANI such as electrical conductivity, highly environmental stability, magnetic and electrochromic properties, and as well as availability have attracted much attention from both academic and industrial sectors (1). Among all the potential applications the most attractive one is the use as electronic devices such as electronic capacitors (2,3), sensors (4), electrochromic displays (2,3,5-9), and photodiodes (10,11). All these applications are based on its unique reduction-oxidation (redox) behavior and the associated spectral properties. 

With growing experience of these materials, a number of more realistic applications have now emerged that tend to exploit the novel features associated with conductive polymers rather than those properties that are readily obtainable in more traditional materials. Some of these applications include plastic batteries, sensors, electrochromic displays, EMI shielding, fuel cells and various biomedical devices, and these are now discussed. 

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