All-in-one electrochromic devices with biological tissues used as electronic components

Two novel all-in-one electrochromic devices have been fabricated on the basis of low-cost and environmentally benign marine brown algae laminaria japonica, and jellyfish, which were both utilized as electronic component (gel electrolytes) in combination with electrochromic viologen bis(3-hydroxypropyl) viologen dibromide, and electron mediators 1,1′-ferrocene dicarboxylic acid and 1,1′-ferrocenedimethanol. The electrochromic performance of the as-fabricated devices was tested. The two biological ECDs exhibited driving voltages as low as 1.1 V, which is superior to many traditional viologen-based ECDs. Moreover, following the principles of green chemistry, no waste and organic solvents were introduced during the room-temperature device assembly. Based on abundant content of biological tissues, the device can be presented as a proof-of-concept to find potential applications in the fields of low-cost, green and large-scale ECDs.