ABSTRACT Electrochromic material is a thin film technology that has a close relationship with environmental sustainability since they can control the light and heat that enter and leave a building. Vanadium oxide films are electrochemically active for lithium and electron co-intercalation, presenting low optical variation in the low energy visible light, which is suitable for application as a passive electrode in the electrochromic devices. The spectral double coloration of vanadium oxide thin film has been investigated but the monochromatic, in particular, for high photons energy, remains poorly explored. To understand the optical behavior of the vanadium oxide films, in high photons energy (E > 2.0 eV), films were opto-electrochemically investigated. The films were electron beam deposited and modified by heat treatment in an inert atmosphere. All samples show crystallographic orientation in a [110] direction, and the charge capacity showed to be dependent on the film conditioning. The charge capacity of the as-grown film is about 6 mC while for the film heat-treated at 100 ºC it is five times higher. The vanadium oxide films showed reversible Li+ intercalation, presenting a double spectral and monochromatic coloration. It was concluded that for low energy photons the small polaron model fully explains the phenomenon of double monochromatic coloration, and, for high-energy, the monochromatic double coloration is due to the crystallographic phase transition.

The V2O5 thin films has been widely studied because it has application as ionic host in electrochromic and lithium-ion batteries, two technologies that have an intimate connection with sustainability as substitutes for fossil energies and as agents for improving energy efficiency. In electrochromic technology, V2O5 is applied as a passive electrode due to its high transmittance and small contrast, and its reversibility on electrochemical reactions. To contribute to increase the optical and charge efficiency of V2O5 thin film passive electrodes, were investigated in this work the influence of the morphological properties, crystallite size and roughness, on the reversible specific charge capacity and the respective optical responses. The films morphological properties were modified by varying their thickness to the nanoscale. The films were deposited by thermal evaporation from powdered V2O5. The crystallite size and surface roughness were measured respectively by XRD and AFM. The results showed that the charge capacity is directly proportional to the surface roughness and inversely proportional to the crystallite size. The film optical contrast and the nominal transmittance shows to be improved according to their morphological properties. In conclusion, the V2O5 opto-electrochemical properties can be improved, increasing the efficiency on the light control processes.

The dependence between the transferred charge and the corresponding transference time to charge and discharge a portable cell phone Li-ion battery (LiCoO2/C) under cycles of low intensity currents was studied in detail. The voltage curve profile between 3.0 and 4.2 V and the charging and discharging time are strongly influenced by the applied current intensity. A linear dependence between the stored and extracted charges, into and from the battery, with the intensity of applied current was also observed. Allometric equations were found to describe the correlation between the charge transference time and the applied current intensity to charge and discharge the battery.

Filmes amorfos de óxido de vanádio foram depositados sobre substratos de vidro recobertos com ITO, pela técnica de deposição de filmes de óxidos metálicos por filamento aquecido. Os espectros de difração de raios-X mostraram que os filmes como-depositados tratados termicamente em atmosfera de argônio em 200 e 300 ºC continuaram amorfos e os tratados a 400 e 500 ºC tornaram-se policristalinos, com a estrutura do V2O5. Os eletrodos foram eletroquimicamente reversíveis sob intercalação de Li+, exibindo o efeito eletrocrômico, observado por medidas da transmitância ótica em 632,8 nm. O coeficiente de difusão do Li, DC, foi medido pela técnica de titulação galvanostática intermitente (GITT) em função da carga inserida. Para os filmes cristalinos, a absorbância ótica e o DC aumentam com a quantidade de Li inserido, nas regiões de fase única de Li xV2O5 cristalino e decrescem nas regiões de duas fases. Para essas, um DC efetivo foi considerado. Nos filmes cristalinos foi inferida a presença de outros óxidos de vanádio misturados à matriz de V2O5, através das medidas de cronopotenciometria e de DC.

Amorphous vanadium oxide films were synthesized onto ITO-coated glass substrates by the hot filament metal oxide deposition technique. The as-deposited samples were heat-treated in an argon atmosphere. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the films treated at 200 and 300 ºC were still amorphous, while those treated at 400 and 500 ºC were crystalline, with a V2O5 structure. All electrodes were electrochemically reversible for Li+ intercalation, exhibiting the electrochromic effect, observed from optical transmittance measurements at 632.8 nm. The Li-diffusion coefficient, DC, was measured by the galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) as function of the inserted charge. For the crystalline films it was observed that the optical absorbance and the DC increase with increasing Li insertion in the single-phase regions of crystalline Li xV2O5 and decrease in the two-phase regions. For the latter, an effective DC was considered. The presence of other vanadium oxides mixed to the V2O5 matrix was inferred for the crystalline films from the chronopotentiometric and DC measurements.