Metal sensitized color changing material
AssigneesUniversity of South Florida, United States Department of Energy
InventorsManoj Kumar Ram, D. Yogi Goswami, Elias K. Stefanakos
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Abstract
The subject invention pertains to color changeable, film materials comprising a metal substrate layer; a conducting polymer or conducting polymer composite layer; and an electrolyte layer. The conducting polymer or conducting polymer composite layer of the film material is capable of exhibiting changes in one or more optical properties when the film material is in contact with a metal. The subject invention also pertains to methods of preparing conducting polymer films capable of exhibiting changes in optical properties.
Claims23
A device comprising:
- a substrate coated with a substrate metal or a substrate metal oxide, wherein the substrate metal is gold, silver, or platinum and the substrate metal oxide is indium tin oxide or fluorine doped tin oxide, wherein the layer of the substrate metal or the substrate metal oxide is electrically continuous;
- an active layer in direct physical contact with a first portion of a top surface of the substrate, wherein the active layer comprises a conducting polymer or a conducting polymer composite layer;
- an electrolyte layer in direct physical contact with the active layer;
- and
- a removable contact metal piece,
- wherein the electrolyte layer comprises an acidic oxidant or a mixture of an acid and an oxidant;
- wherein the active layer changes color and transparency when the electrolyte layer is directly contacted with the removable contact metal piece in the absence of an energy input from an external source;
- and
- wherein the removable contact metal piece comprises copper, low carbon steel, nickel, zinc, iron, indium, tin, aluminum, manganese, cobalt, palladium , lithium, magnesium, sodium, or an alloy thereof,
- wherein the removable contact metal piece has a first position in which no other element of the device is in contact with the removable contact metal piece, and a second position in which the electrolyte layer is directly contacted with the removable contact metal piece.
A method for changing color and transparency of a conducting polymer film, the method comprising:
- a) providing a device comprising:
- i) a substrate coated with a substrate metal or a substrate metal oxide, wherein the substrate metal is gold, silver, or platinum and the substrate metal oxide is indium tin oxide or fluorine doped tin oxide, wherein the layer of the substrate metal or the substrate metal oxide is electrically continuous;
- ii) an active layer in direct physical contact with a first portion of a top surface of the substrate, wherein the active layer comprises a conducting polymer or a conducting polymer composite layer;
- and
- iii) an electrolyte layer in direct physical contact with the active layer wherein the electrolyte layer comprises an acidic oxidant or a mixture of an acid and an oxidant;
- and
- b) changing the color and transparency of the active layer in the absence of an energy input from an external source by directly contacting a removable contact metal piece with the electrolyte layer of the device, wherein the removable contact metal piece comprises copper, low carbon steel, nickel, zinc, iron, indium, tin, aluminum, manganese, cobalt, palladium, lithium, magnesium, sodium, or an alloy thereof,
- wherein the removable contact metal piece has a first position in which no other element of the device is in contact with the removable contact metal piece, and a second position in which the electrolyte layer is directly contacted with the removable contact metal piece.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.