Electrochromic devices windows

FIGURE 5.23 (a) Diagram of an electrochromic device (b) electrochromic office windows. 

The considerable changes in the optical absorption of CPs during the dopingundoping process are at the basis of many proposals for electrochromical devices, such as smart windows, whose light transmission can be electrically controlled, and various display devices. Due to the drastic change that appears in their visible spectrum, PTh [122-124] and PAni [125] are... 

Figure 10 Electrochromic device, or smart window using a conducting polymer as the active material.

Other materials being investigated include ferrocene with a bipyridinium salt,234 niobium oxide,235 nickel oxo-hydroxide,236 and cobalt oxohydroxide.237 The last is pale yellow in the reduced state and dark gray in the oxidized state. A typical electrolyte is lithium perchlorate in propylene carbonate. Solid electrolytes, such as a lithium salt (perchlorate, tetrafluoroborate, or triflate), in a polyepoxide238 or in a polyvinyl chloride gel in ethylene carbonate-propylene carbonate,239 lithium iodide in polyvinyl bu-tyral,240 and Naflon H (a polymeric perfluorocarbon-sulfonic acid),241 have also been tested. Some other systems use suspended particles between two panes of glass.242 When the particles are aligned by an electric field, the window becomes transparent. Combination photo-voltaic-electrochromic devices are under study.243... 

Indium-tin oxide (ITO) is indium oxide doped with tin oxide. Thin films of ITO have commercially valuable properties it is transparent, electrically conducting and reflects IR radiation. Applications of ITO are varied. It is used as a coating material for flat-panel computer displays, for coating architectural glass panels, and in electrochromic devices. Coating motor vehicle and aircraft windscreens and motor vehicle rear windows allows them to be electrically heated for de-icing... 

The principle of electrochromic devices can be exploited in tinting ordinary window glass. Very thin polymer layers embedded in a colorless Solid electrolyte and sandwiched between two layers of glass may tint a window when an electric potential is applied. The d ee of tinting can be controlled by the size of the electric potentiaL... 

S.I. Cho, R. Xiao, and S.B. Lee, Electrochemical synthesis of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) nanotubes towards fast window-type electrochromic devices. Nanotechnology 18, 405705 (2007). 

As naturally abundant and low-cost semiconductor, NiO is widely used in electrochromic windows [20], batteries [21], supercapacitors [22], and sensors [23], While all these applications benefit from an interconnected, three-dimensional NiO nanostructure that combines a high specific surface area with a good electric conductivity, the performance enhancement becomes vividly evident as an increased coloration contrast and improved switching behavior when applied in electrochromic devices. NiO nanomaterials recently employed in electrochromic studies include nanocomposites [24], inverse opals [25], macroporous [26] and mesoporous films [27-29],... 

Flexible electrochromic devices (ECDs) are becoming increasing important for their promising applications in many areas, such as the portable and wearable electronic devices, including smart windows, functional supercapacitors, and flexible displays. Typically, an ECD consists of four parts of substrate, conductive electrode, electrochromic material, and electrolyte. Enormous efforts have been made to improve the flexibility of ECDs including utilizing flexible polymer substrates and conductive materials. 

Polymer electrolytes are also sought for a variety of other applications such as sensors, electrochromic devices and photoelectrochemical cells. The ambient temperature operation of many of these requires conductivities of the same magnitude as for batteries. The need for high electrolytic conductivity stems from the fact that the rate at which the solid-state devices can be operated, for example, how fast energy from a Li battery can be drained or the colour of an electrochromic window can be switched, depends to a large extent on the mobility of ionic charge carriers, hence... 

The electrochromic electrode of these devices, which can work either in the reflective or transmissive mode, is constituted by a conductive, transparent glass coated with electrochromic material. The counterelectrode can be of any material that provides a reversible electrochemical reaction in devices operating in the reflective mode (like electrochromic displays) by contrast, in variable light transmission electrochromic devices (like electrochromic windows) it has to be either colourless in both oxidized and reduced states or electrochromic in a complementary mode to the... 

Electrochromic devices (ECDs) consist of a two-electrode electrochemical cell. They include an ion-conducting liquid or solid electfolyte medium sandwiched between two electrode surfaces coated with organic or inorganic electrochromic materials, chosen for their electrical and optical properties. Their purpose is the generation of a variable-color system that can be changed in a controllable fashion for potential applications as displays, smart windows or in other technologies. 

These examples of electrochromic devices serve to display the breadth of their applicability to any number of systems. Polymeric electrochromics, particularly those based on thiophene and its derivatives, show promise for use in display technologies. The processability of many of these systems makes them specifically suited for large-area applications, such as smart windows, billboards or organic photovoltaic cells (solar cells), which currently suffer from large environmental and practical costs when fabricating large-area devices. 

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