Abstract: Electrochromic “smart” windows allow control of solar and heat flux through the window without sacrificing the view. Despite such appeal, traditional technologies lack the inability to simultaneously achieve fast switching with color neutral tinting and a wide optical dynamic range at low cost. Reversible metal electrodeposition (RME) addresses the drawbacks of existing metal-oxide electrochromic technologies. Several possible RME electrolytes at various pHs with different supporting anions were studied (NO3?, SO42?, ClO4, Cl?, Br?). Acidic perchlorate electrolytes work particularly well, permitting fully reversible metal electrodeposition without harming the substrate or introducing irreversible side reactions. The perchlorate electrolyte shows promising long-term durability in terms of both cycle life and shelf-life, demonstrating 10,000 stable cycles with no evidence of electrode etching.

Abstract: A system and method may include a first storage device supporting a first set of functions and a second storage device supporting a second set of functions different from the first set of functions. The first and second storage devices may be configured to provide a common interface to enable discovery of the first and second sets by invoking a procedure call common to the first and second storage devices. An application, which may initially be unaware of the first and second sets, may be configured to invoke the procedure call and thereby discover the first and second sets, which may be provided as XML documents. The application may be further configured to communicate with the first storage device using the first set of functions, and communicate with the second storage device using the second set of functions using the information discovered by invoking the procedure call.