Characterization of an all solid-state electrochromic window

Sol-gel cerium - titanium oxide layers present potential application as transparent counter-electrode (ion storage layer) in electrochromic windows and mirrors using lithium conducting electrolyte and W03 electrochromic coating. The precursor sol, prepared by mixing Ti(OPri)4 and Ce(N03)6 (NH4)2 in ethanol, is initially dark red and becomes transparent after a few days aging indicating the presence of Ce3 complexes. The layers have been obtained by dip coating technique and heat treated at 4509C during 15 minutes.They have been characterized by XRD, SIMS, optical absorption and electrochemical techniques; it is shown that the electrochemical reaction corresponds to a reversible insertion-extraction oflithium ions within a Ti02 amorphous film containing small Ce02 crystallites. At low sweep frequencies the process is controlled by a diffusion mechanism (DLi ≊ 6.4 lOl2cm2/s at 259C). Characterizations of an all solid state electrochromic window/glass/JTO/ W03/ POE-Li N (502 CF3)2 1 Ti02 - Ce02 I ITO I glass I are also presented.