Thin films of single or mixed WO 3 and MoO 3 oxides are used as the inorganic electrochromic materials. XPS peak during thermal coloration of a thin WO 3 film is shown here. Another part of our study concerns the improvement of the electrolyte. Polymer electrolytes, which we are testing for our devices, are a recent development and their main advantage with respect to the inorganic electrolytes is their strong attachment to the tungsten oxide. This activity has been recently launched and its target is the use of the unique potentials of the surface analysis spectroscopies for the investigation of the electronic and structural properties of complex catalytic systems.
Catalysts are complicated multi-component materials often supported on porous insulating substrates.
Thus, the use of conventional surface spectroscopies is not successful for such systems. For the application of the active phase we use Spin-coating, thus simulating the wet impregnation methods which are used in the industry. The preparation of the catalyst by spin-coating is represented in the following figure in comparison with the pore volume impregnation method. Hydrodynamic forces are used to immobilise the solvent. This method can be applied when there is no sufficient chemical interaction between the substrate and the active phase.