A polyaniline nanofibre electrode and its application in a self-powered photoelectrochromic cell

摘要

Polyaniline (PANI) nanofibre films were fabricated on an indium-tin oxide (ITO) glass substrate through a controlled electropolymerization process. The PANI nanofibres grow vertically on an ITO substrate and are tapered, with average diameters of 20 and 15 nm for the base and top, respectively. The influence of the electrochemical conditions on the nanostructural formation of the PANI films was investigated and the optimized parameters of the electrodeposition were obtained. The optical and electrical properties of the PANI nanofibre electrodes were studied. Employing these PANI nanofibre films as the electrochromic electrode, we fabricated an electrochromic display (ECD) and a self-powered photoelectrochromic cell. The electrochromic and photoelectric properties of the ECD and photoelectrochromic cell are discussed in this paper. The PANI nanofibre based ECD and photoelectrochromic cells have a rapid response compared to conventional thin films due to the high aspect ratio of the nanostructured PANI film.