Fabrication of MoS2/rGO/AgNWs on PET substrate for flexible electrochromic devices

Abstract

Emergence of stretchable and flexible optoelectronic devices has motivated scientific community to develop novel transparent conductive electrodes (TCE) as an alternative to indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates. Recently, flexible electrochromic devices (ECDs) have drawn enormous attention because of their flexible nature and potential for next-generation smart windows application. The TCE should have high electrical conductivity, smooth surface, high transparency, and mechanical flexibility. Silver nanowires (AgNWs) have been used as electrode material for the development of flexible TCE for ECDs or smart windows applications. In present work, we have synthesized molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) flowers decorated reduced graphene (rGO) composite via hydrothermal method. Further, flexible TCE (MoS2/rGO/AgNWs) was developed on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate for the construction of flexible ECDs. The MoS2/rGO composite was employed as passivation layer to reduce the oxidation of AgNWs during electrochemical reactions. The use passivation layer (MoS2/rGO) hindered the direct contact between AgNWs and electrolyte which may improve the stability of the AgNWs based ECDs. The fabricated flexible ECDs exhibited good coloration efficiency of 50 cm2/C with stability up to 450 cycles.