Abstract
WO3 films are the most widely used electrochromic functional layers. It is known that WO3 films prepared by pure chemical method generally possess novel nanostructures, but the adhesion between WO3 films and substrates is weak. However, WO3 films prepared by pure physical method usually show relatively dense morphology, which limits their electrochromic properties. In order to break through these bottlenecks and further improve their electrochromic properties, this work first prepared nanostructured WO3 powder by chemical method, and then using this powder as the evaporation source, nanostructured WO3 films were fabricated by vacuum thermal evaporation method. Properties of nanostructured WO3 films were systematically compared with those of ordinary WO3 films. It turned out that the nanostructured WO3 film exhibited better cyclic stability and memory effect, and also the optical modulation rate was 14% higher than that of the ordinary WO3 film. More importantly, the nanostructured WO3 film showed better adhesion with the ITO substrates. These results demonstrate that a combination of chemical and physical methods is an effective preparation method to improve the electrochromic properties of WO3 films.
Highlights
Tungsten oxide (WO3) has been regarded as the most promising electrochromic material due to its wide range of continuously adjustable optical properties, excellent reversibility, low energy consumption, high coloration efficiency, and environmental friendliness [1,2,3]
Though WO3 films prepared by pure chemical method generally possess novel nanostructures, the adhesion between WO3 films and substrates is weak
Morphology of two kinds of WO3 powder and two kinds of WO3 films was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) using a Sigma 500 instrument (Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany)
Summary
Tungsten oxide (WO3) has been regarded as the most promising electrochromic material due to its wide range of continuously adjustable optical properties, excellent reversibility, low energy consumption, high coloration efficiency, and environmental friendliness [1,2,3]. The electrochemical properties of WO3 films depend strongly on their preparation method, morphology and structure. Owing to the high surface activity and loose morphology, nanostructured WO3 can accelerate the electrochemical process and improve the electrochromic properties with respect to the bulk counterparts [11,12,13,14]. WO3 films prepared by pure physical method such as vacuum thermal evaporation and magnetron sputtering have many advantages, but their morphology is relatively dense, which limits the electrochromic properties [24]. WO3 films prepared by pure chemical or physical methods lead to the property bottleneck to some extent [25]
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