Electrochromic Additives
“Electrochromism is the phenomenon displayed by some materials of reversibly changing color when a burst of charge is applied. Various types of materials and structures can be used to constructive electrochromic devices, depending on the specific applications.” (Wikipedia 8/2/2009) “As the color change is persistent and energy need only be applied to effect a change, electrochromic materials are used to control the amount of light and heat allowed to pass through windows ("smart windows"), and has also been applied in the automobile industry to automatically tint rear-view mirrors in various lighting conditions. Viologen is used in conjunction with titanium dioxide (TiO2) in the creation of small digital displays. It is hoped that these will replace liquid crystal displays as the viologen, which is typically dark blue, has a high contrast compared to the bright white of the titania, thereby providing the display high visibility.” (Wikipedia 8/2/2009)
Recent US Patents
To go to the text version of the patent, click on US Patent Number Search and enter the patent number in the search box. 6/16/2009 7,547,658 Switchable window based on electrochromic polymers 4/28/2009 7,524,567 Spirofluorene-based polymer and organic electroluminescent device using the same 4/21/2009 7,521,005 Electrochromic material with improved lifetime
Recent Journal Articles
To get to the abstract or article, copy the citation and paste it into favorite search engine (ex. Google). The date is the date the entry was found. 9/11/2009 Solution-Processable Novel Near-Infrared Electrochromic Aromatic Polyamides Based on Electroactive Tetraphenyl-p-Phenylenediamine Moieties (4062–4070) Chemistry of Materials 21 #17 (2009) 8/14/2009 A Deep-Blue Electroluminescence from 2,5-Diphenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole and Polyfluorene Copolymer End-capped with Triphenylamine (393-410) High Performance Polymers 21 #4 (2009) Bioinspired Electrochemically Tunable Block Copolymer Full Color Pixels (p 3078-3081) Advanced Materials 21 #30 (2009) Coordinative Supramolecular Assembly of Electrochromic Films Based on Metal Ion Complexes of Polyiminofluorene with Terpyridine Substituent Groups (3668–3676) Chemistry of Materials 21 #15 (2009) 7/31/2009 New P-type of poly(4-methoxy-triphenylamine)s derived by coupling reactions: Synthesis, electrochromic behaviors, and hole mobility (p 4037-4050) Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry 47 #16 (2009) 7/24/2009 Unsaturated Linkages in Dioxythiophene−Benzothiadiazole Donor−Acceptor Electrochromic Polymers: The Key Role of Conformational Freedom (3694–3706) Macromolecules 42 #11 (2009) Electrochromic Organic–Metallic Hybrid Polymers: Fundamentals and Device Applications (511-520) Polymer Journal 41 #7 (2009)
Review Articles
To get to the abstract and the article, open up your internet search engine and copy the title to the search box. Once on the Journal's website, find the year and issue. Then scroll to the article. The date is the date of the entry made on this page.
Editor's Notes
“One good example of an electrochromic material is polyaniline which can be formed either by the electrochemical or chemical oxidation of aniline. If an electrode is immersed in hydrochloric acid which contains a small concentration of aniline, then a film of polyaniline can be grown on the electrode. Depending on the oxidation state, polyaniline can either be pale yellow or dark green/black. Other electrochromic materials that have found technological application include the viologens and polyoxotungstates. Other electrochromic materials include tungsten oxide (WO3), which is the main chemical used in the production of electrochromic windows or smart glass.” (Wikipedia 8/2/2009) ***************************************************************
As the literature is reviewed, and items of interest concerning this topic are found. These may be added in an abbreviated form with the reference. Readers and contributors are invited to add their own notes. Contributors may add them directly and other readers can simply send their notes to the editor, Roger Corneliussen at rcorneliussen@4spe.org. He may edit and add them to this page at his discretion.