Electrochromism and Solvatochromism

The position and the intensity of electronic bands are influenced by an electric field. Pronounced changes in the position of absorption bands are mainly due to the dipole moment of the molecule in the ground state and the change in the dipole moment during the excitation process, and pronounced changes in intensity are due to the field dependence of the transition moment, which can be described by the transition polarizability. The effect of an external electric field on the optical absorption (electrochromism) of suitable molecules can be used to determine the dipole moment in the ground state, the change in dipole moment during the excitation process, the direction of the transition moment of the electronic band, and certain components of the transition polarizability tensor. These data largely determine the strong solvatochromism (solvent-dependence of the position and intensity of electronic bands), which is observed in particular with molecules having large dipole moments. Smaller contributions to solvatochromism result from dispersion interactions, which predominate in the case of nonpolar molecules. The models developed have been experimentally checked and verified by a combination of electro-optical absorption measurements (influence of an external electric field on absorption) and investigation of the solvent-dependence of the electronic bands.     

Synthesis and electropolymerization of 5,12-dihydrothieno[3′,4′:2,3][1,4]dioxocino[6,7-b]quinoxaline and its electrochromic properties

Synthesis of a new thiophene-based monomer; 5,12-dihydrothieno[3′,4′:2,3][1,4]dioxocino[6,7-b]quinoxaline (DDQ), was realized. The chemical structure of the monomer was characterized by ¹H NMR, FTIR and mass spectroscopy techniques. Electrochemical polymerization of DDQ and characterization of the resulting polymer [P(DDQ)] was performed. Moreover, the spectroelectrochemical and electrochromic properties of the polymer film were investigated. P(DDQ) has a low oxidation potential (0.9 V) and low band gap (1.73 eV) compared to polythiophene. In addition, dual-type polymer electrochromic device (ECD) based on P(DDQ) with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) was constructed. Spectroelectrochemistry, electrochromic switching, stability and open-circuit stability of the device were studied. It was observed that polymer have good switching time, reasonable contrast and optical memory.     

电泳沉积法制备V2O5薄膜的结构和性能

V2O5 thin films were successfully prepared on ITO substrate with electrophoresis deposition (EDP) through V2O5 sol. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used for studying the structure of the films. The optical and electrochemical properties were measured by the transmittance spectra and cyclic voltammetry measurements, respectively. It is found that V2O5 thin films deposited by EDP are a compact microstructure with finer adhesive force with ITO substrate and the thickness is uniform. During the cycle experiment, the films exhibited reversible two-color (yellow at oxidation and green at reduction) with a maximum transmittance change of around 30%. Moreover, the films had an excellent cycle for lithium intercalation/deintercalation and good cycle stability, the cycle efficiency for the 50th cycle was 88.02% and the films still had fine adhesive force with ITO substrate with no dissolving over more than 50 cycles. The Li+ diffusion coefficient in V2O5 thin film was 5.10×10-12 cm2/s by the electrochemical impedance spectra method. All results indicate that V2O5 thin films by the electrophoresis deposition may be suitable for the use in the electrochromic devices.     

钛凝胶的光致变色和电致变色特性

过渡金属氧化物光致变色［１,２］和电致变色［３－７］材料在图象显示、信息存储以及做为调节光线强弱的“灵巧窗”等方面有着潜在的应用．国内外广大的科研工作者,在新型光电变色材料的寻找和光电变色机理等方面开展了较广泛而深入的研究．目前普遍认为变色机理为双注...     

Electrochromic performance of the mixed V2O5–WO3 thin films synthesized by pulsed spray pyrolysis technique

Vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) mixed tungsten trioxide (WO₃) thin films have been synthesized by a novel pulsed spray pyrolysis technique (PSPT) on glass and fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrates at 400 °C. Aqueous solutions of equimolar vanadium chloride and ammonium tungstate were mixed in volume proportions (5%, 10% and 15%) for the deposition of V₂O₅–WO₃ thin films. The structural, morphological, optical and electrochemical properties of V₂O₅–WO₃ thin films were investigated by FT-IR, XRD, SEM, cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and chronocoulometry techniques. The results showed that the electrochemical properties of V₂O₅ were altered by mixing WO₃. All the films exhibited cathodic electrochromism in lithium containing electrolyte (0.5 M LiClO₄ + propylene carbonate (PC)). Maximum coloration efficiency (CE) of about 49 cm² C⁻¹ was observed for the V₂O₅ film mixed with 15% WO₃. The electrochemical stability of the sample was examined and it was found to be stable up to 1000 cycles.     

偶联噻吩引入对三苯胺成膜性提高及电致变色性能增强

合成了一种以三苯胺(TPA)为核、偶联噻吩为端基的有机小分子4,4'4?-三[4-(2-联噻吩基)苯基]胺(TBTPA), 并通过电化学聚合得到其相应的聚合物PTBTPA. 运用电化学工作站和紫外-可见光谱仪连用对该聚合物膜的光谱电化学性质进行了测试. 与先前已报道的三[4-(2-噻吩基)苯基]胺(TTPA)相比, TBTPA呈现出更好的电化学氧化还原活性. 在电化学聚合过程中, PTBTPA膜呈现出更好的成膜性能且在不同的电位下可以显示三种颜色(深橙色、橄榄绿、暗灰色). 此外, 光谱电化学测试结果表明, 与先前报道的PTTPA相比, PTBTPA具有更好的电致变色(EC)性能, 高的颜色对比度(44.7%), 更高的透射对比度(ΔT, 在720 及1100 nm处对比度分别为49%和52%)及较快的响应时间(在720 nm时为0.93 s, 在1100 nm 时为0.91 s), 同时, PTBTPA具有更高的着色效率(720 nm时为198 cm²·C^-1, 1100 nm时为285 cm²·C^-1). 从扫描电镜(SEM)照片得出PTBTPA薄膜呈现微球颗粒堆积形貌, 颗粒粒径为500 nm左右, 比PTTPA的粒径小. 良好的性能表明PTBTPA在电致变色器件上具有很大的应用前景.     

Effect of temperature of annealing on optical, structural and electrochromic properties of sol-gel dip coated molybdenum oxide films

The sol-gel dip-coating method is used for the preparation of MoO₃ thin films. The 6 layered MoO₃ films were prepared and annealed at various temperatures in the range of 200-350 °C. The band gap value for MoO₃ films were calculated from optical absorption measurements and it is in the range of 3.55-3.73 eV. XRD spectrum reveals (0 2 0) is the major diffraction plane for the films prepared above 250 °C, which reveals the formation of MoO₃ in α-orthorhombic phase. The films prepared at 200 °C and 250 °C exhibits amorphous nature. The FTIR spectrum confirms the presence of Mo-O-Mo and MoO bonds. Nanorods were observed in the SEM images in the case of MoO₃ films prepared above 250 °C. The films prepared at 250 °C exhibit maximum anodic diffusion coefficient of 9.61 × 10⁻¹¹ cm²/s. The same film exhibits the change in optical transmission of 58.4% at 630 nm with the optical density of 0.80.     

Electrochromic and electrochemical properties of amorphous porous nickel hydroxide thin films

Nickel hydroxide films were prepared using the chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique. The amorphous nature of the films was confirmed by X-ray diffraction measurements. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements showed that the films exhibited nickel hydroxide nature. The porosity of the films was studied using optical measurements. The electrochromic properties of the porous nickel hydroxide layers were investigated, using cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, in situ transmittance, UV-vis spectroscopy, and impedance spectroscopy. The change in the optical density (ΔOD) was found to be 0.79 for the as-deposited nickel hydroxide films, whereas it is 0.53 and 0.50 for the films annealed at 150 °C and 200 °C, respectively. The in situ transmittance and chronoamperometry curves revealed that the annealed films had a very fast colouration (t_c < 290 ms) and decolouration (t_b < 130 ms). The measured colouration efficiencies range between 30 and 40 cm²/C. The impedance measurements revealed the faster colouration and good electrochromic properties for the annealed nickel hydroxide films.     

Structural, electrical and optical properties of TiO2 doped WO3 thin films

TiO₂ doped WO₃ thin films were deposited onto glass substrates and fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated conducting glass substrates, maintained at 500 °C by pyrolytic decomposition of adequate precursor solution. Equimolar ammonium tungstate ((NH₄)₂WO₄) and titanyl acetyl acetonate (TiAcAc) solutions were mixed together at pH 9 in volume proportions and used as a precursor solution for the deposition of TiO₂ doped WO₃ thin films. Doping concentrations were varied between 4 and 38%. The effect of TiO₂ doping concentration on structural, electrical and optical properties of TiO₂ doped WO₃ thin films were studied. Values of room temperature electrical resistivity, thermoelectric power and band gap energy (E_g) were estimated. The films with 38% TiO₂ doping in WO₃ exhibited lowest resistivity, n-type electrical conductivity and improved electrochromic performance among all the samples. The values of thermoelectric power (TEP) were in the range of 23-56 μV/K and the direct band gap energy varied between 2.72 and 2.86 eV.     

Electrochromic smart windows: energy efficiency and device aspects

This paper covers three aspects of electrochromic smart windows. Their energy efficiency is discussed, and it is argued that a control strategy considering whether a room is in use or not can lead to large savings of the energy needed for space cooling. With regard to durability, it is shown that chemical compatibility between the electrolyte and electrochromic films of tungsten oxide and nickel oxide can be achieved without loss of optical transparency. Finally, we consider device manufacturability and present data on precharging of electrochromic nickel oxide films by ozone treatment. Electronic Publication