Hybrid quasi-solid polymer electrolytes (QSPEs) were obtained by adding modified polyethylene glycol (mPEG) prepolymer into porous polyvinyl butyral (PVB). The prepared QSPEs have good luminous clarity (transmittance >70% in the visible region), high ionic conductivity in the level of 10 −5 S cm −1 . On the other hand, bond stress of the QSPE reaches 0.57 fold increase with introduction of 12 wt % PVB, attributing to functional groups in PVB. Moreover, an electrochromic device (ECD) was fabricated using PProDOT-Me 2 and Li-Ti doped NiO as working and counter electrode respectively, and hybrid QSPE as electrolyte. Compared with ECD based on mPEG electrolyte, the ECD shows 43.81% of optical modulation (ΔT) at 585 nm, and maintains 84% of the initial ΔT value after 20,000 cycles. These outstanding comprehensive performances demonstrate the QSPE has extensive prospects for electrochromic applications.
Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is not satisfactory for the removal performance of thiophenic sulfurs, e.g., low S-partition coefficient K N (S). The unsatisfactory K N may be due to relatively low content of active O atom on PEG. Modification replacing – OH group with – OCH 3 group can produce modified PEGs that have the higher active O-content. Polyethylene glycol dimethyl ether, which was commonly known as NHD, showed the higher K N than PEG. Its K N for dibenzothiophene (DBT) can reach as high as 3.99. The higher K N was dominantly ascribed to the contribution of the active O atom: (1) H-bonding with DBT; (2) group similarity between C-O-C and C-S-C. Further, methoxy polyethylene glycol (mPEG) showed the best selectivity for DBT to toluene, compared with NHD and PEG. The best selectivity of mPEG may be attributed to its higher active O-content than PEG’s and its stronger polarity than NHD’s. Moreover, NHD and mPEG can be regenerated and recycled for several times without significantly decreasing the desulfurization performance.