Ionic Liquid Electrolyte-Based Switchable Mirror with Fast Response and Improved Durability

Abstract

Electrochemically tunable devices based on reversible metal electrodeposition have attracted extensive attention for energy-saving smart windows, information displays, digital signage, and variable reflectance mirrors, owing to their excellent optical modulation characteristics, low operation voltage, and superb electrochemical stability. Here, we study the effects of ionic liquid (IL)-based electrolytes on electrodeposition of the reversible electrochemical mirrors (REMs) by changing the organic cations of the ILs to obtain devices with the desired spectroelectrochemical and electrodeposited properties. Spectroelectrochemical measurements and scanning electron microscopy images show that organic cations drastically affect the switching speed and cycling durability, which we proposed on the basis of the difference in the absorption energies between cations and Ag(111) surfaces. Higher adsorption energy indicates strong adhesion between organic cations and Ag(111) surfaces, and this strong adsorption would prevent aggregation and agglomeration during the nucleation of Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs), leading to a denser and more compact electrodeposited Ag film and faster switching speeds (3.3 s for coloring and 14.3 s for bleaching). These findings allow us to fabricate dynamic devices that exhibit reversibly switchable light modulation at fast switching speeds and excellent cycling stability over thousands of cycles without attenuation. The combination of rapid switching and durable cycling stability enables tunable windows, which are based on reversible electrodeposition of metal Ag and IL-based electrolytes, make REM devices a competitive and promising alternative to traditional intelligent response materials.

Fabrication of Carboxylic Acid and Imidazolium Ionic Liquid Functionalized Porous Cellulosic Materials for the Efficient Conversion of Carbon Dioxide into Cyclic Carbonates

“…Functional polymeric materials are a very important class of polymers and are the most widely used materials in science. , Ionic liquid-functionalized polymer materials, which are called poly­(ionic liquid)­s (PILs), are polyelectrolytes composed of a polymeric backbone with an ionic liquid (IL) within the monomer repeating unit. − In recent years, the unique physical properties and structural characteristics of PIL materials, the designability of ILs, and the ability of polymer segments to enrich the properties and applications of PILs has aroused considerable attention in the fields of polymer and materials science. , Cellulose poly­(ionic liquid)­s (Cellulose-PILs) are a type of IL-functionalized polymeric materials, which have the dual characteristics of ILs and bio-based polymers, such as negligible vapor pressure, thermal stability, non-flammability, high ionic conductivity, wide electrochemical stability window, biodegradability, and biocompatibility and have been widely studied …”

Strong–Weak Response Network-Enabled Ionic Conductive Hydrogels with High Stretchability, Self-Healability, and Self-Adhesion for Ionic Sensors

“…Polyionic liquid (PIL) gel as a new-type ionic conductive gel material is typically polymerized from ionic liquid monomers and has a great potential in stretchable ionic conductors. The gel skeleton among the PIL gels includes repeating units of the anionic and cationic groups. , Benefiting from the excellent ionic conductivity, negligible vapor pressure, wide variety of ionic liquids and the inherent flexibility of hydrogels, the PIL gels are expected to solve the problems of poor flexibility, interfacial incompatibility and nonadhesion of traditional ionic conductors. Compared with traditional ionic gels which are prepared by impregnating them in salt solutions or ionic liquids, the ions in PIL gels are evenly distributed in the whole skeleton network, thereby achieving high-yet-stable ionic conductivity .…”

Nanofluids and Ionic Fluids as Liquid Electrodes: An Overview on Their Properties and Potential Applications

“…Also, a decrease in the nucleation overpotentials occurred with enhancing FSI concentration, verifying the interfacial effect of the SEI and lower interfacial energy with the TFSI:FSI 0:1 ratio. Also, the authors Hou et al [131] inferred the effect of organic imidazolium cations on cycle durability and switching velocity according to the adsorption energy difference. A high adsorption energy promotes stronger adhesion between organic cations and silver surfaces.…”