Ayşe Bayrakçeken

Fabricating multicolored electrochromic devices using conducting copolymers

A centrosymmetric polymer precursor, 4-(2,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)-1H-pyrrol-1-yl)butan-1-amine (TPBA), was synthesized via a Knorr‐Paal reaction and its copolymer with EDOT was electrochemically synthesized and characterized. While P(TPBA) has only two colors in its oxidized and neutral states, its copolymer with EDOT has eight different colors. Electrochromic devices based on P(TPBA)/PEDOT and P(TPBA-co-EDOT)/PEDOT were constructed and characterized. The oxidized state of the device shows blue color whereas it shows purple for the reduced state. At moderate potentials the device has good transparency with green and gray colors. The maximum contrast and switching time of the multielectrochromic copolymer device were measured as 25% and 0.8 s at 575 nm. Copolymerization not only increases the polymer’s color scheme, but also improves its properties, such as redox stability and switching time. S Online supplementary data available from stacks.iop.org/SMS/22/115022/mmedia (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

VULCAN-SUPPORTED Pt ELECTROCATALYSTS FOR PEMFCs PREPARED USING SUPERCRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE DEPOSITION

In this study, supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) deposition was used to prepare vulcan-supported Pt (Pt/Vulcan) electrocatalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), and the effects of process variables on the properties of the electrocatalysts were investigated. The two different methods used to reduce the organometallic precursor were thermal reduction in nitrogen at atmospheric pressure and thermal reduction in scCO2. In the former method, the maximum Pt loading achieved was 9%, and this was governed by the adsorption isotherm of the Pt precursor between the scCO2 phase and the Vulcan phase. By using the latter method, higher Pt loadings of 15% and 35% could be achieved. The Pt/Vulcan catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The average particle sizes for Pt/Vulcan 9%, 15%, and 35% catalysts were 1.2, 1.3, and 2 nm, respectively. Electrochemical surface areas obtained from CV data were found to vary with the Pt loading.