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ELECTROCHROMIC DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAME
US8773747
The present invention relates to electrochromic devices and methods for functionalizing cellulose-based materials, in production and post-production stages, in order to obtain solid-state electrochromic devices. The invention is in the field of electrochemistry. These functionalized cellulose-based materials have typical electrochromic characteristics, specifically the capacity to change the oxidation state, leading to a modification of the physical properties, shown by a color change when exposed to an electric potential difference, being this color change reversible. The color remains in the absence of any electric stimulus, demonstrating a memory effect. An example of an electrochromic device according to the present invention comprises a cellulose-based material soaked with a dispersion of electrochromic inorganic material nanoparticles or with a solution of electrochromic organic molecules, wherein the solution/dispersion contains at least one salt, and is finished by deposition of an electrode in each side of the cellulose-based material, wherein at least one of the electrodes is transparent.
In face of the state-of-the-art, this disclosure makes the construction of an electrochromic device simpler, by reducing the number of layers relative to the electrochromic devices in the state-of-the-art, and it also makes the construction of an electrochromic device quicker and less costly, by virtue of diminishing the number of necessary depositions to achieve the same electrochromic function of the prior art, in a manner unexpected to a professional possessing ordinary skill in the art.