A STUDY OF AN ELECTROCHROMIC DEVICE BASED ON NI(OH)2/PVA FILM WITH THE MESH-LIKE SILVER COUNTER ELECTRODE

The study is devoted to the development and testing of the electrochromic device based on Ni(OH)2/PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) composite and mesh counter-electrode. A copper wire with a layer of electroplated silver layer is proposed as a mesh material. Glass coated with fluorine-doped tin oxide after special treatment was used as a substrate for electrochrome deposition. The treatment lies in the shallow dissolution of the surface by means of soft electrochemical etching. The distance between the mesh and electrochromic electrodes was small and equal to 1.5 mm. The proposed design of the electrochromic device can lead to lower cost. However, it limits the range of possible applications for light windows or upper parts of view windows, building partitions. Over the course of the studies, it was demonstrated that the electrochromic device is operational and can be used for further scaling. Parameters of electrochemical cycling – working voltage window and current density, were found. It was found that the use of galvanostatic regime for color switching results in linear characteristics of the device. The use of the chosen voltodynamic regime results in a decrease of specific characteristics of the device – coloration degree and reversibility during bleaching. It was found that due to the small potential difference of nickel oxide and silver electrodes, the polarity of voltage during coloration and switching changes. Additionally, it is noted that no gas evolution was observed over the course of the experiment