Abstract
Electrochromic materials and devices are attracting intense attention because of their low energy consumption and open-circuit memory effect. Considering the difficult processing characteristics of electrochromic conductive polymers, we developed a facile and scalable strategy to prepare solution processable polyaniline (PANI)-based nanocomposites by introducing two-dimensional titanium carbon nanosheets (MXene) through a self-assembly approach. The PANI/MXene nanocomposite can be fabricated into porous films via spray-coating process, which show an obvious synergetic effect of both materials, leading to superior electrochromic properties. The optical contrast of the optimized PANI/MXene film reached as high as 55% at =700 nm, and its response times were 1.3 s for coloration and 2.0 s for bleaching, respectively. In addition, the composite film also showed excellent cycle stability (after 500 cycles, the ΔT retention was above 87%). The improved electrochromic properties are owed to the high conductivity of MXene and the formation of the porous composite film structure, which promote the electronic/ionic transfer and migration efficiency. This research suggests that the self-assembly method and the conductive polymer/MXene nanocomposites have a potential application in the fields of electronic functional films and devices.
Highlights
Accepted: 31 October 2021The development of industrial society has been accompanied by energy problems and environmental pollution, which have become serious problems that mankind must face [1].Nearly 40% of the total social energy consumption in buildings has become the primary target for energy efficiency [2,3]
PANI/MXene composite was synthesized by the self-assembly method
PANI/MXene nanocomposites, which can be fabricated into electrochromic film through a simple solution process technique
Summary
Accepted: 31 October 2021The development of industrial society has been accompanied by energy problems and environmental pollution, which have become serious problems that mankind must face [1].Nearly 40% of the total social energy consumption in buildings has become the primary target for energy efficiency [2,3]. The development of industrial society has been accompanied by energy problems and environmental pollution, which have become serious problems that mankind must face [1]. Electrochromic (EC) smart windows with reversible optical changes in visible light and near infrared bands by applying different potentials are promising for using as energy-saving windows [4]. In addition to energy-saving windows, electrochromic materials and devices can be used as low-power displays, adaptive camouflage apparatuses, coloration-changing sunglasses, anti-glare rearview mirrors, and so on [5,6,7]. Electrochromic materials are mainly divided into transition metal oxides, organic compounds, and polymers [8,9,10]. The transition metal oxides, such as tungsten oxide and nickel oxide, have been widely used due to their high transmittance contrast (∆T%)
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