Patents by Inventor Pierre Bonhôte

Pierre Bonhôte has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20020181068
    Abstract: An electrochromic or photoelectrochromic device possessing the property of changing color under the effect of an electric voltage and/or of a variation in the intensity of a light radiation, this device comprising at least one cathode and one anode, at least one of these electrodes being constituted at least in part of a transparent or translucent substrate bearing an electrically conductive coating, and an electrolyte arranged between these electrodes, and an electric circuit connecting said cathode and anode, characterized in that at least one of these electrodes carries a coating constituted of at least one nanocrystalline layer of at least one semiconductive material, having a roughness factor equal to at least 20, and a monolayer of electrically active molecules or of an electrically active polymer, said monolayer being absorbed on the surface of this coating, and in that the device contains at least one auxiliary electrically active compound, possibly dissolved in the electrolyte, having the property of
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 7, 2002
    Publication date: December 5, 2002
    Inventors: Pierre Bonhote, Lorenz Walder, Michael Gratzel
  • Patent number: 6426827
    Abstract: Electrochromic and photoelectrochromic devices using nanocrystalline semiconductor electrodes with a high specific surface area and surface-absorbed electrochromic molecules are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2002
    Assignee: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
    Inventors: Pierre Bonhôte, Lorenz Walder, Michael Grätzel
  • Patent number: 6067184
    Abstract: Electrochromic and photoelectrochromic devices using nanocrystalline semiconductor electrodes with a high specific surface area and surface-absorbed electrochromic molecules are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2000
    Assignee: Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne
    Inventors: Pierre Bonhote, Lorenz Walder, Michael Gratzel
  • Patent number: 5728487
    Abstract: A cell including a photoanode consisting of at least one polycrystalline titanium dioxide layer on a conductive substrate, a counter-electrode and an electrolyte positioned between these electrodes, at least one of said electrodes being transparent or translucent. The electrolyte includes an oxidation-reduction system which is liquid at room temperature. The first species of the pair making up the oxidation-reduction system advantageously consists of an electrochemically active salt having a melting point below room temperature, and optionally being dissolved in at least one electrochemically inactive salt also having a melting point below room temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 17, 1998
    Assignee: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
    Inventors: Michael Gratzel, Yordan Athanassov, Pierre Bonhote
  • Patent number: 5683832
    Abstract: Hydrophobic liquid salts of the general formula ##STR1## in which R.sub.1 and R.sub.3 are the same or different and each represent a straight or branched chain alkyl radical, a fluoroalkyl radical or an alkoxyalkyl radical of 1 to 8 carbon atoms; and R.sub.2, R.sub.4, and R.sub.5 are the same or different and each represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl radical with 1 to 3 carbon atoms.The invention has applications as an electrolyte solvent in electrochemical photovoltaic cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 4, 1997
    Assignee: Asulab S.A.
    Inventors: Pierre Bonhote, Ana-Paula Dias