Gel polymer electrolyte for reversible metal electrodeposition dynamic windows enables dual-working electrodes for faster switching and reflectivity control
Dynamic windows based on reversible metal electrodeposition are an attractive way to enhance the energy efficiency of buildings and show great commercial potential. Dynamic windows that rely on liquid electrolytes are at risk of short circuiting when two electrodes contact, especially at larger-scal...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Nanotechnology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnano.2022.1083247/full |
| _version_ | 1811186890897883136 |
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| author | Yuchun Cai Yuchun Cai Tyler S. Hernandez Tyler S. Hernandez Andrew L. Yeang Michael T. Strand Michael T. Strand F. Max Yavitt F. Max Yavitt Eldho Abraham Michael D. McGehee Michael D. McGehee Michael D. McGehee |
| author_facet | Yuchun Cai Yuchun Cai Tyler S. Hernandez Tyler S. Hernandez Andrew L. Yeang Michael T. Strand Michael T. Strand F. Max Yavitt F. Max Yavitt Eldho Abraham Michael D. McGehee Michael D. McGehee Michael D. McGehee |
| author_sort | Yuchun Cai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Dynamic windows based on reversible metal electrodeposition are an attractive way to enhance the energy efficiency of buildings and show great commercial potential. Dynamic windows that rely on liquid electrolytes are at risk of short circuiting when two electrodes contact, especially at larger-scale. Here we developed a poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) with 85% transmittance, that is, sufficiently stiff to act as a separator. The GPE is implemented into windows that exhibit comparable electrochemical and optical properties to windows using a liquid electrolyte. Furthermore, the GPE enables the fabrication of windows with dual-working electrodes (WE) and a metal mesh counter electrode in the center without short-circuiting. Our dual-WE PVA GPE window reaches the 0.1% transmittance state in 101 s, more than twice the speed of liquid windows with one working electrode (207 s). Additionally, each side of the dual-WE GPE window can be tinted individually to demonstrate varied optical effects (i.e., more reflective, or more absorptive), providing users and intelligent building systems with greater control over the appearance and performance of the windows in a single device architecture. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:52:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8f5815fec10a4a149b3fae8df4ca3121 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-3013 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:52:57Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Nanotechnology |
| spelling | doaj.art-8f5815fec10a4a149b3fae8df4ca31212022-12-22T04:20:29ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Nanotechnology2673-30132022-11-01410.3389/fnano.2022.10832471083247Gel polymer electrolyte for reversible metal electrodeposition dynamic windows enables dual-working electrodes for faster switching and reflectivity controlYuchun Cai0Yuchun Cai1Tyler S. Hernandez2Tyler S. Hernandez3Andrew L. Yeang4Michael T. Strand5Michael T. Strand6F. Max Yavitt7F. Max Yavitt8Eldho Abraham9Michael D. McGehee10Michael D. McGehee11Michael D. McGehee12Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesDepartment of Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesDepartment of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United StatesDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United StatesDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesBioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesDepartment of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesMaterials Science and Engineering Program, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesNational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, United StatesDynamic windows based on reversible metal electrodeposition are an attractive way to enhance the energy efficiency of buildings and show great commercial potential. Dynamic windows that rely on liquid electrolytes are at risk of short circuiting when two electrodes contact, especially at larger-scale. Here we developed a poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) with 85% transmittance, that is, sufficiently stiff to act as a separator. The GPE is implemented into windows that exhibit comparable electrochemical and optical properties to windows using a liquid electrolyte. Furthermore, the GPE enables the fabrication of windows with dual-working electrodes (WE) and a metal mesh counter electrode in the center without short-circuiting. Our dual-WE PVA GPE window reaches the 0.1% transmittance state in 101 s, more than twice the speed of liquid windows with one working electrode (207 s). Additionally, each side of the dual-WE GPE window can be tinted individually to demonstrate varied optical effects (i.e., more reflective, or more absorptive), providing users and intelligent building systems with greater control over the appearance and performance of the windows in a single device architecture.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnano.2022.1083247/fulldynamic windowreversible metal electrodepositiongel polymer electrolyteelectrochromicdual-working electrodepoly(vinyl alcohol) |
| spellingShingle | Yuchun Cai Yuchun Cai Tyler S. Hernandez Tyler S. Hernandez Andrew L. Yeang Michael T. Strand Michael T. Strand F. Max Yavitt F. Max Yavitt Eldho Abraham Michael D. McGehee Michael D. McGehee Michael D. McGehee Gel polymer electrolyte for reversible metal electrodeposition dynamic windows enables dual-working electrodes for faster switching and reflectivity control Frontiers in Nanotechnology dynamic window reversible metal electrodeposition gel polymer electrolyte electrochromic dual-working electrode poly(vinyl alcohol) |
| title | Gel polymer electrolyte for reversible metal electrodeposition dynamic windows enables dual-working electrodes for faster switching and reflectivity control |
| title_full | Gel polymer electrolyte for reversible metal electrodeposition dynamic windows enables dual-working electrodes for faster switching and reflectivity control |
| title_fullStr | Gel polymer electrolyte for reversible metal electrodeposition dynamic windows enables dual-working electrodes for faster switching and reflectivity control |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gel polymer electrolyte for reversible metal electrodeposition dynamic windows enables dual-working electrodes for faster switching and reflectivity control |
| title_short | Gel polymer electrolyte for reversible metal electrodeposition dynamic windows enables dual-working electrodes for faster switching and reflectivity control |
| title_sort | gel polymer electrolyte for reversible metal electrodeposition dynamic windows enables dual working electrodes for faster switching and reflectivity control |
| topic | dynamic window reversible metal electrodeposition gel polymer electrolyte electrochromic dual-working electrode poly(vinyl alcohol) |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnano.2022.1083247/full |
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