Hybrid Ag/Ni mesh/PH 1000 transparent electrodes for high performance flexible electrochromic devices with exceptional stability

Abstract

Flexible electrochromic technology has gained numerous attentions in flexible smart wearable devices and flexible displays. For large-area flexible electrochromic devices (FECDs), highly conductive transparent electrodes with advanced stability at a prolonged redox cycling process are indispensable. In this work, a silver (Ag)/nickel (Ni) mesh/PH 1000 hybrid transparent film were successfully fabricated by selectively electrodepositing an 800 nm-thick dense metallic Ni layer and coating PH 1000 on an embedded Ag mesh to improve its electrochemical stability. The prepared hybrid transparent film presented high conductivity with a sheet resistance of below 1.5 Ω sq−1 at over 80% optical transmittance. The Ag/Ni mesh/PH 1000 was successfully utilized as current collectors for all-solid-state FECDs, showing fast coloration switching with a bleaching/coloring time of 0.7 s/0.9 s. In addition, the device demonstrated an exceptional electrochemical cycling stability, which could sustain 89% of its initial optical modulation after 25 000 cycles. More importantly, a remarkable mechanical durability was also achieved with a small optical modulation decay of 15% and an invariable response time after 1000 rolling cycles. In addition, uniform coloration were realized on a 6 × 6 cm2 FECD, demonstrating its great potential for applications of next-generation up-scaling FECDs.