Electrochromic properties of electrodeposited tungsten oxide (WO3) thin film

Abstract

In this work, we report on a potentiostatic electrochemical procedure employing an ethanolic solution of peroxotungstic acid yielded tungsten oxide (WO3) films specifically for transmissive electrochromic devices (ECDs) such as “smart windows”. WO3 film was confirmed from the binding energy determination by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic studies. The diffusion coefficient during intercalation and deintercalation was found to be 2.59×10−10 and 2.40×10−10 cm2/C. Electrodeposited WO3 produce high color/bleach transmittance difference up to 74% at 630 nm. On reduction of WO3, the CIELAB 1931 2% color space coordinates show the transition from colorless to the deep blue state (L=95.18, a=2.12, b=0.3138, and L=57.78, a=−21.79, b=0.244) with steady decrease in relative luminance. The highest coloration efficiency (CE) of 92 cm2/C and good response time of 10.28 for coloration (reduction) and 3.2 s for bleaching (oxidation) was observed with an excellent reversibility of 89%.