Novel nickel oxide coatings (100-600 nm) with low surface roughness ((20 nm) and haze levels down to 6% were deposited at a temperature of 150 °C on FTO glass and conducting plastic films. The coatings were deposited on the substrates from water dispersions made of Ni1-xO pigment synthesized via the peroxo route by reaction of a H2O2/urea mixture with Ni-acetate precursor. The bunsenite Ni1-xO pigment was obtained after thermal treatment of xerogels at 400 °C for 24 h. Processing common for paint manufacturing was applied for the preparation of water dispersions of the Ni1-xO pigment, i.e., intensive milling of the pigment with dispersant. Dispersant (NiOxHy) was prepared by colloidal precipitation from Ni-sulfate and sodium hypochlorite. The materials (Ni1-xO pigment, NiOxHy, coatings) were investigated using various analytical techniques (TG, DSC, SEM, TEM, IR and optical spectroscopy), while the electrochromic properties were determined by means of in situ spectroelectrochemical measurements. The results revealed a convenient, simple, and robust technique for making "electrochromic paint" coatings from pre-prepared Ni1-xO pigment. They demonstrate the potential of the described electrochromic coatings for manufacturing plastic film based electrochromic devices providing transmissive light modulation.
COBISS.SI-ID: 5056794
Electrochromic nickel oxide (Ni(1-x)O) thin films and composite nickel oxide-polyaniline (Ni(1-x)O-PANI) thin films were prepared by a new peroxo soft chemistry route based on a nickel acetate ionic solution precursor. The deep green ionic solution was synthesized from nickel acetate, urea and hydrogen peroxide in ethanol. The polyaniline, PANI, was in-situ polymerized in the second step and then added to the colloidal nickel oxide sol. Thin films were deposited by a dip-coating technique on FTO glass substrates and heat treated at 300 °C. The as-deposited Ni(1-x)O films exhibited a gray-black color, whereas the composite Ni(1-x)O-PANI films were almost transparent. The electrical, optical and electrochromic properties of all films showed that composite Ni(1-x)O-PANI films exhibit superior properties over plain Ni(1-x)O films. This confirmed the role of PANI, which was selected to improve the electrical and optical properties of nickel oxide films. The electrochromic properties of gray-black Ni(1-x)O and almost transparent composite Ni(1-x)O-PANI films were tested in a 1 M LiClO4/propylene carbonate electrolyte. Spectroelectrochemical measurements showed charge capacities above 15 mC/cm2 and coloring/bleaching changes from gray-black to transparent of more than 70%. Such changes are sufficient to enable the preparation of efficient electrochromic cells consisting of an anodic nickel oxide based counter electrode and cathodic WO3 electrochromic layer.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4905242
V2O5 nanocrystalline films were prepared by spin-coating from vanadium (V) oxoisopropoxide sol. The sols had similar rheological behaviour and viscosity of ~10−3 Pa.s. After thermal treatment at 150 °C adhesion of the films on ITO-PET surface was excellent. The electrochemical and optical properties of V2O5 films were analysed using in-situ UV–visible absorbance spectroelectrochemistry. V2O5 was then used as counter electrode in flexible electrochromic device with optically active PEDOT electrode and electrolyte on the basis of organic-inorganic hybrid N-triethoxysilyl propylcarbamatoil PEO 400 and mesylate ionic liquid as cosolvent.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4648218
Two novel nanosized hybrid inorganic-organic frameworks, VO(C14H9COO)2, and VO(C10H7COO)2 have been solvothermally synthesized and their structures elucidated using a combination of powder XRD and DFT geometry optimization. They contain one-dimensional chains of corner-sharing tetrahedra in the case of VO(C10H7COO)2, and corner-sharing octahedra for VO(C14H9COO)2 oriented along orthorhombic/monoclinic c-axis, respectively. While VO(C14H9COO)2 exhibits bidentate bridging binding of organic moiety to the metal center, VO(C10H7COO)2 shows a monodentate mode as evidenced from DFT and infrared spectroscopy. Both hybrids exhibit fiber-like morphology, consisting of smaller individual single crystals aligned in parallel to the growth direction along the c-axis. They are thermally stable up to 350 °C. The magnetic properties have also been investigated and indicate antiferromagnetic ordering along the chains.
COBISS.SI-ID: 35817477
The main focus of the study were the anti-wetting properties of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS). In general, the inclusion of POSS nanoparticles in polymers led to improvement of the polymers, as demonstrated by enhanced Young’s modulus, stiffness, flame retardancy and thermal stability in comparison with the base polymeric materials. In relation to selective paint coatings for polymeric absorbers, we have also demonstrated that the use of POSS confers TISS paint coatings with superhydrophobic properties, enabling their self-cleaning.
COBISS.SI-ID: 5112858