Controllable Electrochromic Polyamide Film and Device Produced by Facile Ultrasonic Spray-coating.

Thermally stable TPA-OMe polyamide films with high transmittance modulation in response to applied potential are formed by facile ultrasonic spray-coating. Four processing conditions (Film A, Film B, Film C and Film D) through tuning both solution concentrations and deposition temperatures can be utilized for the formation of wet and dry deposited films with two film thickness intervals. The electrochromic results show that the dry deposited rough films at higher deposition temperature generally reveal a faster electrochromic response, lower charge requirements (Q) and less conspicuous color changes (smaller optical density change (ΔOD) and lightness change (ΔL*)) during the oxidation process as compared to the wet deposited smooth films at lower deposition temperature. Moreover, thicker electrochromic films from increased solution concentration exhibit more obvious changes between coloration and bleaching transition. All these four polyamide films display colorless-to-turquoise electrochromic switching with good redox stability. The large scale patterned electrochromic film and its application for assembled device (10 × 10 cm2 in size) are also produced and reversibly operated for color changes. These represent a major solution-processing technique produced by ultrasonic spray-coating method towards scalable and cost-effective production, allowing more freedoms to facilitate the designed electrochromic devices as required.

Highly transparent AgNW/PDMS stretchable electrodes for elastomeric electrochromic devices.

Stretchable conductors based on silver nanowires (AgNWs) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) have been studied extensively for many years. However, it is still difficult to achieve high transparency with low resistance due to the low attractive force between AgNWs and PDMS. In this paper, we report an effective method to transfer AgNWs into PDMS by using substrates which have a hydrophobic surface, and successfully prepared stretchable AgNW/PDMS electrodes having high transparency and low sheet resistance at the same time. The obtained electrodes can be stretched, twisted, and folded without significant loss of conductivity. Furthermore, a novel elastomeric HV electrochromic device (ECD) fabricated based on these stretchable AgNW/PDMS hybrid electrodes exhibited excellent electrochromic behavior in the full AgNW electrode system and could change color between colorless and blue even after 100 switching cycles. As most existing electrochromic devices are based on ITO and other rigid conductors, elastomeric conductors demonstrate advantages for next-generation electronics such as stretchable, wearable, and flexible optoelectronic applications.