Efficiency Definition of the Deposition Process of Electrochromic Ni(OH)2-PVA Films Formed on A Metal Substrate From Concentrated Solutions

Electrochemical devices based on nickel hydroxide electrodes are used in different areas. The main ones are chemical current sources, variable transparency “smart” windows, devices for carrying out electrocatalytic reactions, sensors for determining various substances. In this regard, methods of nickel hydroxide synthesis are of great interest, especially those that allow forming nickel hydroxide directly on the surface of electrodes. One of these methods is electrochemical deposition with cathodic current polarization. The available information on nickel hydroxide synthesis from nickel solutions was considered. It was shown that the available data mainly covered information on dilute solutions from 0.01 to 0.25 mol/L Ni(NO3)2. In addition, no comparison was found in the literature for the efficiency of the cathodic formation of Ni(OH)2 at different concentrations of nickel nitrate. To eliminate the lack of information, the dependence of the current efficiency on the concentration of nickel nitrate in the electrodeposition solution was determined at a constant cathode current density of 0.625 mA/cm2. The resulting dependence decreased nonlinearly with increasing concentration. The nickel hydroxide deposit formed in this case had an X-ray amorphous structure, and it depended little on the Ni(NO3)2 concentration. In addition, the current efficiency reached zero at concentrations of 1.5 mol/L Ni(NO3)2 and higher. However, with polyvinyl alcohol in the solution and at Ni(NO3)2 concentrations of 1.5 and 2 mol/L, electrochemically and electrochromically active Ni(OH)2 films were deposited. The current efficiency calculated indirectly for 1.5 and 2 mol/L Ni(NO3)2 solutions was 3.2 and 2.3 %, respectively. Thus, it was concluded that polyvinyl alcohol affected the mechanism of nickel hydroxide electrodeposition from aqueous solutions of nickel nitrate

The Study of Activation Impact During Formation and Testing of Ni(OH)2 Electrochromic Films in the Presence of Al3+ and WO42- Ions

The present study is devoted to an attempt to improve the characteristics of nickel hydroxide electrochromic films. The study of optical and electrochemical characteristics of the films, prepared through the codeposition of nickel and aluminum and additional modification during the cycling of the prepared samples was conducted. The modification was realized through the cycling of films in the solution of potassium hydroxide with small amounts of potassium tungstate.Over the course of the study, a series of films were obtained, which demonstrated different electrochemical and optical behavior. Thus, it was found that both the deposition method and the cycling regime have a significant effect on the characteristics of electrochromic films.It is shown that for the potentiodynamic regime, the best characteristics were demonstrated by the film without modifications or additives. On the other hand, all modified films, codeposited with aluminum, demonstrated better characteristics in galvanostatic regimes over the reference film. It would appear that this is due to the physico-chemical features of the films deposited in the presence of additives.In turn, the use of high-rate cycling regime leads to a decrease of electrochromic characteristics, namely higher degree of irreversibility. Despite the difference of currents in different galvanostatic regimes by 4 times, the coloration degree did not differ much.It was also found that the presence of 0.3 mM potassium tungstate in the cycling electrolyte resulted in a significant decrease in the electrochromic properties of the sample

Determination of the Effect of Exposure Conducted in KOH Solutions at Different Temperatures on the Properties of Electrochromic Ni(OH)2-PVA Films

To determine the effect of exposure of film composite electrodes based on Ni(OH)2-polyvinyl alcohol to an alkaline solution at high temperatures on the electrochromic and electrochemical characteristics, a series of films was obtained. The films were obtained on a glass substrate coated with fluorine-doped tin oxide. The coating of the substrates was carried out by the cathodic template method under the same conditions. The resulting precipitates were treated by keeping them in an alkali solution at different temperatures: 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 °C for 8 hours, thereby simulating the operating conditions of an electrochromic device in a hot climate. It was found that the exposure temperature directly affected the electrochemical and electrochromic properties of the treated films. In this case, the cyclic volt-ampere curves showed a decrease in the peak values of the current densities and a lower rate of establishment of characteristics with an increase in the treatment temperature. At a maximum treatment temperature of 70 °C, the properties of the film significantly changed towards deterioration. According to the results of the experiments, three temperature ranges of treatment were identified. The first one was in the range up to 40 °C, in which the films showed significant electrochromic and electrochemical activity after treatment. The second interval was between 40 and 60 °C, in which the coatings showed a reversible deterioration in electrochromic and electrochemical activity. After treatment in the second interval, the films gradually restored their performance during electrochemical cycling. The third interval was from 70 °C and above. The films treated in this temperature range irreversibly lost their electrochemical and electrochromic activity. The study also proposed mechanisms to explain changes in the characteristics of electrodes during treatment, as well as possible ways to combat temperature degradation

A Study of Physico-chemical Characteristics of Electrochromic Ni(OH)2-PVA Films on Fto Glass with Different Deposition Duration

The use of electrochromic elements in “smart” windows leads to significant savings in electricity required for cooling premises. However, the high cost of these devices does not allow the technology to be widely used. Since the cost is determined by costly vacuum deposition methods, the development of other cheaper methods of deposition of electrochromic element layers is urgent. Aspects of alternative to vacuum formation methods – cathode template electrochemical deposition of composite electrochromic Ni(OH)2-PVA films were investigated. The study is devoted to determining the effect of the duration of deposition of the electrochromic layer on their physicochemical characteristics, in particular, on the optical and electrochemical properties. The deposition was carried out on fluorine-doped tin oxide glasses (FTO glasses). The time of deposition was chosen equal to 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, and 80 minutes. As a result of the experiments, it was shown that the optimal duration of deposition under the selected conditions of the electrochromic layer formation was the interval from 5 to 20 minutes, inclusive. The deposition time of 40 minutes did not improve the optical characteristics of the film. At the same time, with the deposition duration of 60 and 80 minutes, the electrochemical and optical parameters sharply decreased, the coloration depth and irreversibility during bleaching, as well as the specific capacitances of the processes decreased. In the course of data processing, the film thickness was calculated depending on the duration of deposition in several ways. Comparison of the graphs obtained made it possible to determine the approximate amount of polyvinyl alcohol in the electrochromic composite coating, as well as to estimate the current efficiency of the electrodeposition and oxidation-reduction process of the electrochromic material. In this case, the volume of polyvinyl alcohol in the composite was approximately equal to the volume of nickel hydroxide, and the efficiency of Ni(OH)2 deposition and coloration-bleaching processes was approximately 100