Materials
sustainability is becoming increasingly relevant in every
developed technology and, consequently, environmentally friendly solid
polymer electrolytes (SPEs) based on gellan gum and different quantities
of ionic liquid (IL) 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium-thiocyanate [Emim][SCN]
have been prepared and applied in electrochromic devices (ECDs). The
addition of the IL does not affect the crystalline phase of gellan
gum, and the samples show a compact morphology, surface uniformity,
no phase separation, and good distribution of the IL within the carrageenan
matrix. The developed SPE are thermally stable up to ∼100 °C
and show suitable mechanical properties. The most concentrated sample
(39 wt % IL content) reaches a maximum ionic conductivity value of
6.0 × 10–3 S cm–1 and 1.8
× 10–2 S cm–1 at 30 and 90
°C, respectively. The electrochromic device (ECD) was fabricated
with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS)
as working electrode and the developed SPE was compared with an aqueous
0.1 M KNO3 solution. The electrochromic performance of
the electrolyte was assessed in terms of spectroelectrochemistry,
demonstrating a fully flexible ECD operating at voltages below 1.0
V. This novel electrolyte opens the door to the preparation of high
performance sustainable ECD.
Multifunctional polymer composites are of increasing
interest as
they allow tuning of physical–chemical properties for specific
applications. A ternary composite material is presented based on the
incorporation of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles
and conductive silver nanowires (AgNWs) into a poly(vinylidene fluoride)
(PVDF) polymer matrix. The films were prepared by solvent casting,
varying the contents of the filler up to 10 wt %, and showed improved
mechanical and dielectric responses and tailorable optical properties.
In contrast, the morphology, polymer phase, and thermal stability
are nearly independent of the filler type and content within the composite.
A dielectric constant of up to 14 at 1 kHz was obtained for the 7.5%AgNWs/2.5%TiO2/PVDF sample. The (multi)functionality of the developed materials
is demonstrated for photocatalytic self-cleaning and capacitive sensing
applications, indicating the suitability of the approach for next-generation
hybrid multifunctional materials.
Screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCE) are enjoying increasing popularity in different electrochemistry areas, from electroanalysis to energy storage and power generation. Highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), an ordered form of graphite,...
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