Sol-gel-derived composite antimony-doped, tin oxide-coated clay-silicate semitransparent and conductive electrodes

A new form of conductive and transparent porous composite electrode is introduced. The electrode material is composed of antimony-doped, tin oxide (ATO)-coated mica platelets imbedded in sol-gel-derived silicate or methyl silicate network. The platelet clays self-align in a layered structure within the silicate film, an anisotropic construction that minimizes the ATO loading required to achieve electric percolation. Transparency and resistance as a function of clay loading is reported with typical values of 100 kΩ/square and 1.5 OD for a 20-μm-thick film. The transparency is lower as compared to sputtered ATO glasses, but this is, as far as we know, the best method for the low-temperature preparation of transparent, porous, and electrically conductive (as opposed to the amply reported ionically conductive) electrode materials. Perm-selectivity induced by the silicate and clay ingredients is demonstrated by permeation of positively charged methyl viologen compared to negatively charged ferricyanide. Prussian blue-modified ATO-coated platelets dispersed in sol-gel-derived silicate were used to demonstrate feasibility of a transparent and electrically conductive porous electrochromic material.