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Browsing by Author "Silva, M. Manuela"

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  • Electrochromic Device Composed of a Di-Urethanesil Electrolyte Incorporating Lithium Triflate and 1-Butyl-3-Methylimidazolium Chloride
    Publication . Gonçalves, Maria Cristina; Pereira, Rui F. P.; Alves, Raquel; Nunes, Sílvia C.; Fernandes, Mariana; Gonçalves, Helena M R; Pereira, Sónia; Silva, M. Manuela; Fortunato, Elvira; Rego, Rosa; Zea Bermudez, Verónica de
    A di-urethane cross-linked poly(oxyethylene)/silica hybrid matrix [di-urethanesil, d-Ut(600)], synthesized by the sol-gel process, was doped with lithium triflate (LiCF3SO3) and the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Bmim]Cl) ionic liquid. The as-produced xerogel film is amorphous, transparent, flexible, homogeneous, hydrophilic, and has low nanoscale surface roughness. It exhibits an ionic conductivity of 3.64 × 10–6 and 5.00 × 10–4 S cm–1 at 21 and 100°C, respectively. This material was successfully tested as electrolyte in an electrochromic device (ECD) with the glass/ITO/a-WO3/d-Ut(600)10LiCF3SO3[Bmim]Cl/c-NiO/ITO/glass configuration, where a-WO3 and c-NiO stand for amorphous tungsten oxide and crystalline nickel oxide, respectively. The device demonstrated attractive electro-optical performance: fast response times (1–2 s for coloring and 50 s for bleaching), good optical memory [loss of transmittance (T) of only 41% after 3 months, at 555 nm], four mode modulation [bright mode (+3.0 V, T = 77% at 555 nm), semi-bright mode (−1.0 V, T = 60% at 555 nm), dark mode (−1.5 V, T = 38 % at 555 nm), and very dark mode (−2.0 V, T = 11% and −2.5 V, T = 7% at 555 nm)], excellent cycling stability denoting improvement with time, and high coloration efficiency [CEin = −6727 cm2 C–1 (32th cycle) and CEout = +2794 cm2 C–1 (480th cycle), at 555 nm].
    2020Journal article Open access Show more
  • Proton conducting electrolytes composed of chondroitin sulfate polysaccharide and citric acid
    Publication . Santos, Filipe M.; Barbosa, Paula C.; Pereira, Rui F.P.; Silva, M. Manuela; Gonçalves, Helena M R; Nunes, Sílvia C.; Figueiredo, Filipe L.; Valente, Artur J.M.; Zea Bermudez, Verónica de
    Novel electrolytes composed of chondroitin sulfate A (CSA) and citric acid (CA) have been prepared using a clean, safe, and fast route. These electrolytes exhibit different physical-chemical properties, depending on the amount of CA. For X > 82.3%, where X is the mass ratio, in %, of CA/(CA + CSA), whitish polycrystalline powders result. Lower amounts of CA leads to the production of translucent, amorphous films, sticky for X = 75.6 and 82.0, brittle for X < 43.6 and crack-free, self-standing for 43.6 < X < 75.6%. The results obtained provide evidence that, at low pH, strong hydrogen bonding interactions take place between the anionic sulfonic and carboxylic groups of CSA and CA. CA exerts a key role, acting as a cross-linker and proton source, while simultaneously influencing sample morphology. At room temperature the highest ionic conductivity is achieved at X = 60.8%. A significant enhancement of the ionic conductivity of this sample occurs with the increase of relative humidity (RH) (from 3.1 × 10−7 to 3.7 × 10−2 S cm−1 30% for RH = 30 and ~100%, respectively).
    2020Journal article Open access Show more