Patent
Electrochromic pane arrangement
| العنوان: | Electrochromic pane arrangement |
|---|---|
| Patent Number: | 5,859,723 |
| تاريخ النشر: | January 12, 1999 |
| Appl. No: | 08/586,838 |
| Application Filed: | January 17, 1996 |
| مستخلص: | An electrochromic pane arrangement is disclosed having a first transparent electrode substrate or glass pane and a second electrode substrate or glass pane arranged parallel to and at a distance from the first glass pane. An ion conducting layer is disposed adjoining the two electrode substrates and consists of a polymer matrix containing at least one salt including difficult to oxidize anions. The conducting layer also includes one dopant suitable for the provision of cations, preferably metal ions. A surface of the first electrode substrate faces toward the ion conducting layer and is a first transparent electrode layer. Adjacent to it is an actively electrochromic layer in surface contact with the ion conducting layer, preferably of tungsten trioxide. This ion conducting layer has a reversibly variable transparency and/or color as a result of absorption or emission of electrons via the first electrode layer and acceptance or emission of ions of the dopant from or to the ion conducting layer. A surface of the second electrode substrate faces toward the ion conducting layer and bears a second transparent electrode layer. Adjacent to it is a transparent layer in surface contact with the ion conducting layer and is suitable for the reversible storage of charge, preferably by ion insertion. The ion conducting layer includes at least one salt having a proportion of an easily oxidizable anion and/or at least one easily oxidizable organic compound. The compound is electrically neutral and undergoes no color change upon changing the transmission of the electrochromic pane arrangement. |
| Inventors: | Jodicke, Dirk (Gelsenkirchen, DEX); Batchelor, Richard Anders (Merseyside, GBX) |
| Assignees: | Flachglas AG (Furth, DEX) |
| Claim: | What is claimed is |
| Claim: | 1. An electrochromic pane arrangement comprising: a first transparent electrode substrate, a second electrode substrate arranged parallel to and at a distance from the first transparent electrode substrate, and an ion conducting layer joining the first and second electrode substrates comprising a polymer matrix, at least one salt including difficult to oxidise anions, at least one dopant for providing cations and at least one salt including easy to oxidise anions, wherein a surface of the first transparent electrode substrate facing towards the ion conducting layer includes a first transparent electrode layer disposed thereon and an active electrochromic layer disposed on the first transparent electrode layer in surface contact with the ion conducting layer whose transparency and/or color is reversibly variable as a result of absorption or emission of electrons via the first electrode layer and acceptance or emission of ions of the dopant from/to the ion conducting layer, and a surface of the second electrode substrate facing towards the ion conducting layer including a second transparent electrode layer disposed thereon, and a third transparent layer disposed on the second transparent electrode layer in surface contact with the ion conducting layer capable of reversibly storing charge. |
| Claim: | 2. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the salt(s) incorporating the difficult to oxidise and the easily oxidisable anion(s) has/have different cations. |
| Claim: | 3. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the salt(s) incorporating the difficult to oxidise and the easily oxidisable anion(s) has/have the same cation. |
| Claim: | 4. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized by the use of lithium as cation for the difficult to oxidize salt(s). |
| Claim: | 5. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 4, characterized in that the salt(s) with difficult to oxidise anions consist(s) of lithium cations with one variable anion and is/are selected from the group including perchlorate, tetra fluoroborate, hexafluorophosphate, hexafluoroarsenate and trifluoromethanesulphonate. |
| Claim: | 6. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized by the use of lithium, sodium, potassium, hydrogen, ammonium or tetraalkyl ammonium or mixtures of at least two of the aforementioned materials as cation(s) for the easily oxidizable salt(s). |
| Claim: | 7. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the salt(s) with easily oxidizable anions is/are selected from the group including bromide, formate, cyanide, cyanate, acetate, trifluoroacetate, citrate, lactate, oxalate, benzoate, acetylacetonate, rhodanide, sulphite, thiosulphate, disulphite, dithionite, dithionate, phosphate and hypophosphite, as well as mixtures of at least two of the aforementioned materials. |
| Claim: | 8. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the proportion of the salt(s) in the ion conducting layer with difficult to oxidize anions is 0.5 to 5.0 mol %. |
| Claim: | 9. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 8, characterized in that the proportion of the salt(s) with difficult to oxidise anions is 1 to 4 mol %. |
| Claim: | 10. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the proportion of the salt(s) with easily oxidizable anions is 0.001 to 0.5 mol %. |
| Claim: | 11. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 10, characterized in that said easily oxidisable organic compound which is electrically neutral and undergoes no colour change upon changing the transmission of the electrochromic pane arrangement is selected from the group consisting of primary and/or secondary alcohols carrying at least one OH group and mixtures thereof. |
| Claim: | 12. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 11, characterized in that said alcohol is selected from the group consisting of primary and secondary aliphatic alcohols which are branched or unbranched and mixtures thereof. |
| Claim: | 13. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 12, characterized in that said aliphatic alcohol is selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, 1-butanol, 2-butanol, sec-butyl alcohol, and higher homologues and mixtures thereof. |
| Claim: | 14. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 11, characterized in that said alcohol is selected from the group consisting of branched or unbranched diols, triols and alcohols comprising more than three OH groups and mixtures thereof. |
| Claim: | 15. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 14, characterized in that said alcohol is selected from the group consisting of ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, tripropylene glycol, tetrapropylene glycol, 1,4-butane diol, 2,3-butane diol, 1,5-pentane diol, 1,6-hexane diol, 1,2,3-propane triol, trimethylol propane, pentaerythritol or the like and mixtures thereof. |
| Claim: | 16. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 11, characterized in that said alcohol is selected from the group consisting of saturated cyclic primary and secondary alcohols and mixtures thereof. |
| Claim: | 17. Pane arrangement according to claim 16, characterized in that said alcohol is selected from the group consisting of cyclopropanol, cyclobutanol, cyclopentanol, cyclohexanol, 1-cyclopropylethanol or the like and mixtures thereof. |
| Claim: | 18. Pane arrangement according to claim 11, characterized in that the proportion of primary and/or secondary alcohols carrying at least one OH group is 0.01 to 5 mol %. |
| Claim: | 19. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the thickness of the ion conducting layer (22) is 0.2 to 2.0 mm. |
| Claim: | 20. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 19, characterized in that the thickness of the ion conducting layer (22) is approximately 1 mm. |
| Claim: | 21. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the ion conducting layer (22) an acrylate based cast resin layer. |
| Claim: | 22. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 21, characterized in that the salts of the ion conducting layer are introduced into said cast resin mixture for manufacture of the polymer matrix for the ion conducting layer (22) before polymerization. |
| Claim: | 23. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 22, characterized in that the cast resin mixture for manufacture of the polymer matrix for the ion conducting layer (22) includes at least one acrylic and/or methacrylic ester, at least one plasticizer also acting as solvent for the salts and at least one polymerization initiator. |
| Claim: | 24. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 23, characterized in that the cast resin mixture incorporates at least one cross-linking agent. |
| Claim: | 25. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 23, characterized in that the acrylic and/or methacrylic ester(s) of the cast resin mixture for the manufacture of the polymer matrix of the ion conducting layer (22) include(s) at least one component of the following group: all branched or unbranched saturated aliphatic (meth)acrylic ester, in particular methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, iso-butyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl- and 2-ethyl-1-hexyl-(meth)acrylic esters. |
| Claim: | 26. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 23, characterized in that the proportion of the cast resin mixture of saturated aliphatic (non-functionalised) (meth)acrylic esters is between 60 and 95 mol %. |
| Claim: | 27. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 26, characterized in that the proportion of the cast resin mixture of saturated aliphatic (non-functionalised) (meth)acrylic esters is between 70 and 90 mol %. |
| Claim: | 28. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 23, characterized in that the cast resin mixture incorporates at least one hydroxyalkyl ester of acrylic or methacrylic acid which has at least one primary and/or secondary and/or tertiary hydroxy group which is to be found in a branched or unbranched alkyl group. |
| Claim: | 29. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 28, characterized in that the hydroxyalkyl ester(s) is/are selected from the group comprising 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, 1-hydroxypropyl acrylate, 2-hydroxypropyl acrylate, 1,4-butanediol monoacrylate and 1,6-hexanediol monoacrylate. |
| Claim: | 30. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 28, characterized in that the proportion of the cast resin mixture of hydroxyalkyl (meth)acrylic ester(s) is 0.5 to 15 mol %. |
| Claim: | 31. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 30, characterized in that the proportion of the cast resin mixture of hydroxyalkyl (meth)acrylic ester(s) is 1 to 5 mol %. |
| Claim: | 32. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 23, characterized in that the plasticizers is/are selected from the group comprising propylene carbonate, ethylene carbonate, gammabutyrolactone, N-methyl pyrrolidone, 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone, 3-methyl-2-oxazolidinone, dimethyl formamide, dimethyl sulphoxide, dimethoxy ethane and diethylene glycol monoethyl ether, as well as mixtures of at least two of the aforementioned materials. |
| Claim: | 33. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 23, characterized in that the proportion of the cast resin mixture of plasticizers is 5 to 30 mol %. |
| Claim: | 34. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 33, characterized in that the proportion of the cast resin mixture of plasticizer(s) is at the most 25 mol %. |
| Claim: | 35. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 24, characterized in that the cross-linking agent(s) includes at least a compound which possesses at least two acrylate or methacrylate groups per molecule, such as 1,4-butanediol diacrylate, 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate, ethylene glycol diacrylate, di-ethylene glycol diacrylate, tri-ethylene glycol diacrylate, propylene glycol diacrylate, di-propylene glycol diacrylate, tri-propylene glycol diacrylate, tri-methylol propane triacrylate, ditrimethylol propane tetraacrylate, dipentaerythritol pentaacrylate and/or pentaerythritol tetraacrylate. |
| Claim: | 36. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 24, characterized in that the proportion of the cast resin mixture of cross-linking agent is up to 10 mol %. |
| Claim: | 37. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 36, characterized in that the proportion of the cast resin mixture of cross-linking agent is of 5 mol % at maximum. |
| Claim: | 38. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 24, characterized in that the polymerization initiator proportion of the cast resin mixture is 0.01 to 0.5 mol %. |
| Claim: | 39. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 38, characterized in that the polymerization initiator proportion of the cast resin mixture is 0.02 to 0.3 mol %. |
| Claim: | 40. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 24, characterized in that the polymerization initiators is/are selected from the group comprising hydroxycyclohexyl-phenyl ketone, 2-hydroxy-2methylphenyl-i-propanone, 2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl-diphenyl phosphine oxide and/or ethyl-2,4,6-trimethylbenzoylphenylphosphinate. |
| Claim: | 41. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the thickness of the first (14) and/or of the second electrode layer (18) is 100 to 400 nm. |
| Claim: | 42. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 41, characterized in that the thickness of the first (14) and/or the second electrode layer (18) is approximately 300 nm. |
| Claim: | 43. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the first electrode layer (14) and/or the second electrode layer (18) consist(s) of indium tin oxide. |
| Claim: | 44. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the first electrode layer (14) and/or the second electrode layer (18) consist(s) of fluorine-doped tin oxide. |
| Claim: | 45. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the thickness of the actively electrochromic layer (16) is 250 to 500 nm. |
| Claim: | 46. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 45, characterized in that the thickness of the actively electrochromic layer (16) is approximately 350 nm. |
| Claim: | 47. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the third transparent layer (18) is a passively or actively electrochromic charge storage layer (20). |
| Claim: | 48. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 47, characterized in that the charge storage layer (20) has a thickness of 200 up to 400 nm. |
| Claim: | 49. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 48, characterized in that the charge storage layer (20) has a thickness of 280 nm. |
| Claim: | 50. Pane arrangement in accordance with claim 47, characterized in that the charge storage layer (20) consists of cerium titanium oxide, nickel oxide, cobalt oxide, chromium oxide, vanadium oxide and/or iridium oxide. |
| Claim: | 51. An electrochromic pane arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein the first transparent electrode substrate comprises glass. |
| Claim: | 52. An electrochromic pane arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein the second electrode substrate comprises glass. |
| Claim: | 53. An electrochromic pane arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein the first and the second electrode substrates each comprise glass. |
| Claim: | 54. An electrochromic pane arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said actively electrochromic layer comprises tungsten trioxide. |
| Claim: | 55. An electrochromic panel structure comprising |
| Claim: | a first transparent electrode substrate; a second transparent electrode substrate disposed in parallel spaced apart relationship to said first transparent electrode substrate; a first transparent electrode layer disposed on a surface of the first transparent electrode substrate; an electrochromic layer disposed on the first transparent electrode layer opposite the first transparent electrode substrate; a second transparent electrode layer disposed on a surface of the second transparent electrode substrate; a third transparent layer disposed on the second transparent electrode layer capable of reversibly storing a charge by ion insertion; an ion conducting layer having a first surface disposed in surface contact with the electrochromic layer and a second surface disposed in surface contact with third transparent layer, said ion conducting layer comprising a polymer matrix containing at least one salt including a difficult to oxidize anion, at least one dopant capable of providing cations and at least one salt including an easy to oxidize anion; and means for electrically connecting the first transparent electrode layer and the second transparent electrode layer to a voltage source, whereby a transmission property of the electrochromic layer selected from transparency, color or both, may be reversibly varied by absorption or emission of electrons from the first electrode layer into the electrochromic layer and acceptance or emission of ions of the dopant from or into the ion conducting layer and reversible storage of charge by the third transparent layer. |
| Claim: | 56. An electrochromic pane arrangement comprising: a first transparent electrode substrate, a second electrode substrate arranged parallel to and at a distance from the first transparent electrode substrate, and an ion conducting layer joining the first and second electrode substrates comprising a polymer matrix, at least one salt including difficult to oxidise anions, at least one dopant for providing cations, at least one salt including easy to oxidise anions, and at least one easily oxidisable organic compound, which is electrically neutral and undergoes no color change upon changing the transmission of the electrochromic pane arrangement, wherein a surface of the first transparent electrode substrate facing towards the ion conducting layer includes a first transparent electrode layer disposed thereon and an actively electrochromic layer disposed on the first transparent electrode layer in surface contact with the ion conducting layer whose transparency and/or color is reversibly variable as a result of absorption or emission of electrons via the first electrode layer and acceptance or emission of ions of the dopant from/to the ion conducting layer, and a surface of the second electrode substrate facing towards the ion conducting layer including a second transparent electrode layer disposed thereon, and a third transparent layer disposed on the second transparent electrode layer in surface contact with the ion conducting layer capable of reversibly storing charge. |
| Current U.S. Class: | 359/270; 429/192 |
| Current International Class: | G02F 1153 |
| Patent References Cited: | 4773740 September 1988 Kawakami et al. 5016991 May 1991 Mason 5206756 April 1993 Cheshire 5332530 July 1994 Eid et al. |
| Primary Examiner: | Epps, Georgia Y. |
| Assistant Examiner: | Bey, Dawn-Maui |
| Attorney, Agent or Firm: | Hill & Simpson |
| رقم الانضمام: | edspgr.05859723 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | USPTO Patent Grants |
| الوصف غير متاح. |