Polymer electrochromic materials application

At present, intercalation compounds are used widely in various electrochemical devices (batteries, fuel cells, electrochromic devices, etc.). At the same time, many fundamental problems in this field do not yet have an explanation (e.g., the influence of ion solvation, the influence of defects in the host structure and/or in the host stoichiometry on the kinetic and thermodynamic properties of intercalation compounds). Optimization of the host stoichiometry of high-voltage intercalation compounds into oxide host materials is of prime importance for their practical application. Intercalation processes into organic polymer host materials are discussed in Chapter 26. 

These novel properties are the basis for a number of application including polymer light emitting diodes (LEDs), polymer light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs), conducting polymers as electrochromic materials, polymer photodetectors and polymer photovoltaic cells. These application areas are discussed in detail in Section VII. 

Electrochromic applications of the PAn and substituted PAn films [307a-h], composite films of PAn or its derivatives with other electrochromic materials [307i-m], silanized PAn films [306o] and photo-induced electrochromic reactions on semiconductor particles [307p]. Again, most other polymers can be used for this purpose as long as their oxidized and reduced states are stable and have different colors from that of neutral polymers. 

Conjugated polymers, discovered in the late 1970s, have attracted a variety of attentions because of their unique properties, such as electrical conductivity and color versatility. The conjugated polymers with different colors can be used as ideal electrochromic materials, which have potential applications in sensors, mirrors, displayers, and textiles. Most of their reversible electrochromic behaviors are caused by the electro-induced oxidation-reduction, that is, the reversible change of a chemical species between two redox states under a certain voltage (Niklasson and Granqvist, 2007 Beaujuge et al., 2010). 

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. 

The combination of various device platforms, along with electrochromic polymers available in colors that span the entire range of the visible spectrum and beyond, allows the construction of displays that can be tailored to fit most needs in real applications. While these devices have shown enhanced performance in colors available, optical memory, and low power consumption as compared to devices constructed of other electrochromic materials, there are still drawbacks to be addressed. 

Since it seems clear that it is the combination of acid functions and free water in the electrolytes that leads to the chemical instability of WO3, the use of anhydrous protonic polymers may be attractive for this kind of application. Recently, anhydrous polymers have been synthesized and studied. However, only a few studies are reported on the performances of such complete ECDs. Table 38.2 presents the values of conductivity, at room temperature, of some of these polymers. These materials are promising for an electrochromic cell with WO3 but their conductivity has to be improved to be of the order of 10" (Q.cmj Either ammonium salts or acids have been added to polymers such as poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), polyvinylpirolydone (PVP), poly(ethylene imine) (PEI), poly(vinylalcohol) (PVA), poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), branched poly(ethyl-ene imine) (BPEI), poly(acrylamide) (Paam) to obtain anhydrous protonic conductors. 

The challenge that remains for conducting polymer electrochromic applications is clearly in the domain of device scale-up. The application of these materials to large area devices, such as windows, requires uniform real-time switching of the polymer oxidation state to access different color regions. Although this has been demonstrated for small-scale devices, it is difficult at larger scales. 

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