LAMINATED ELECTROCHROMIC DEVICES - AN EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

The most promising practical application of polymer electrolytes has so far been considered to be the development of advanced-design, high-energy, rechargeable batteries. Accordingly, the main goal in the field has been the characterization of materials having high conductivity at ambient and subambient temperature. Indeed, substantial success has been achieved and various classes of new polymer electrolytes have been disclosed in the recent years. However, some of these new materials, rather than solid, are highly viscous liquids. Such a poor mechanical consistency, which is not desirable for battery applications, is instead quite welcome in optical display technology. In fact, viscous polymer electrolytes combine good ionic conductivity with an adhesive nature, a property which makes them ideal separators for the realization of self-sealing, laminated electrochromic glass windows. This concept has been experimentally confirmed in our and other laboratories and in this paper we discuss the latest development of this emerging technology.