Improved diffusion and storage of lithium ions via recrystallization induced conducting pathways in a Li:Ta2O5-based electrolyte for all-solid-state electrochromic devices with enhanced performance.

In this study, we have investigated the improvements in the performance of an all-solid-state complementary electrochromic device (ECD) by using the proposed high pressure treatment (HPT). The Li:Ta2O5electrolyte layer was recrystallized by the HPT utilizing pressurized CO2gas (∼200 atm) and at low temperature (<60 °C), which enhanced the coloration performance of the WO3/Li:Ta2O5/NiO complementary ECD by ∼20%. The reliability and durability of the ECD were confirmed by long term transmittance retention measurements, which indicated an improvement in the coloration performance by ∼14% upon the release of the bias voltages. The ability of the devices that were fabricated with and without the HPT process to withstand high temperature environments was also verified. In addition, photoluminescence (PL) and transmittance measurements were carried out to examine the effects of the bonding between WO3and NiO. To determine the differences in lithium-ion (Li+) injection, electrical measurements were performed by utilizing varying pulse rising speeds to confirm device characteristics. The materials were characterized in terms of their composition and structure using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy along with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. Finally, a mechanistic model has been proposed to explain the improved EC characteristics based on the amorphous to crystalline transition accompanying the HPT process.

Applied IrO2 Buffer Layer as a Great Promoter on Ti-Doping V2O5 Electrode to Enhance Electrochromic Device Properties.

Electrochromic devices (ECDs) are a promising material for smart windows that are capable of transmittance variation. However, ECDs are still too expensive to achieve a wide market reach. Reducing fabrication cost remains a challenge. In this study, we inserted an IrO2 buffer layer on Ti-doped V2O5 (Ti:V2O5) as a counter electrode using various Ar/O2 gas flow ratios (1/2, 1/2.5, 1/3 and 1/3.5) in the fabrication process. The buffered-ECD resulted in a larger cyclic voltammetry (CV) area and the best surface average roughness (Ra = 3.91 nm) to promote electrochromic performance. It was fabricated using the low-cost, fast deposition process of vacuum cathodic arc plasma (CAP). This study investigates the influence of the IrO2 buffer/Ti:V2O5 electrode on ECD electrochemical and optical properties, in terms of color efficiency (CE) and cycle durability. The buffered ECD (glass/ITO/WO3/liquid electrolyte/IrO2 buffer/Ti:V2O5/ITO/glass) demonstrated excellent optical transmittance modulation; ∆T = 57% (from Tbleaching (67%) to Tcoloring (10%)) at 633 nm, which was higher than without the buffer (ITO/WO3/liquid electrolyte/Ti:V2O5/ITO) (∆T = 36%). In addition, by means of an IrO2 buffer, the ECD exhibited high coloration efficiency of 96.1 cm2/mC and good durability, which decayed by only 2% after 1000 cycles.

High-Performance Complementary Electrochromic Device Based on Iridium Oxide as a Counter Electrode.

In complementary electrochromic devices (ECDs), nickel oxide (NiO) is generally used as a counter electrode material for enhancing the coloration efficiency. However, an NiO film as a counter electrode in ECDs is susceptible to degradation upon prolonged electrochemical cycling, which leads to an insufficient device lifetime. In this study, a type of counter electrode iridium oxide (IrO2) layer was fabricated using vacuum cathodic arc plasma (CAP). We focused on the comparison of IrO2 and NiO deposited on a 5 × 5 cm2 indium tin oxide (ITO) glass substrate with various Ar/O2 gas-flow ratios (1/2, 1/2.5, and 1/3) in series. The optical performance of IrO2-ECD (glass/ITO/WO3/liquid electrolyte/IrO2/ITO/glass) was determined by optical transmittance modulation; ∆T = 50% (from Tbleaching (75%) to Tcoloring (25%)) at 633 nm was higher than that of NiO-ECD (ITO/NiO/liquid electrolyte/WO3/ITO) (∆T = 32%). Apart from this, the ECD device demonstrated a fast coloring time of 4.8 s, a bleaching time of 1.5 s, and good cycling durability, which remained at 50% transmittance modulation even after 1000 cycles. The fast time was associated with the IrO2 electrode and provided higher diffusion coefficients and a filamentary shape as an interface that facilitated the transfer of the Li ions into/out of the interface electrodes and the electrolyte. In our result of IrO2-ECD analyses, the higher optical transmittance modulation was useful for promoting electrochromic application to a cycle durability test as an alternative to NiO-ECD.

Indium-Zinc-Tin-Oxide Film Prepared by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering for Electrochromic Applications.

This paper reports on the fabrication of indium-zinc-tin-oxide (IZTO) transparent conductive film deposited by direct current (DC) reactive magnetron sputtering. The electrical, structural, and optical properties of IZTO film were investigated by Hall measurement, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and optical transmission spectroscopy with various sputtering powers. The IZTO film prepared used power at 100 W showed the lowest resistivity of 5.2 × 10-4 Ω cm. To accomplish rapid switching and high optical modulation, we have fabricated an electrochromic device (ECD) consisting of an working electrode (WO3 electrode film deposited on IZTO/ITO/glass) and a counter-electrode (Pt mesh) in 0.2 M LiClO4/PC liquid solution. The device demonstrated an optical contrast of 44% and switching times of 4.6 s and 8.1 s for the coloring and bleaching state, respectively, at the wavelength of 550 nm.

Thermally Cured Dual Functional Viologen-Based All-in-One Electrochromic Devices with Panchromatic Modulation.

Vinyl benzyl viologen (VBV) was synthesized and utilized to obtain all-in-one thermally cured electrochromic devices (ECDs). The vinyl moiety of VBV monomer could react with methyl methacrylate (MMA) to yield bulky VBV/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) chains and even cross-linked network without the assistance of additional cross-linker. Both the bulky VBV/PMMA chains and the resulting polymer network can hinder the aggregation of the viologens and reduce the possibility of dimerization, rendering enhanced cycling stability. Large transmittance changes (ΔT) over 60% at both 570 and 615 nm were achieved when the VBV-based ECD was switched from 0 V to a low potential bias of 0.5 V. Ultimately, the dual functional of VBV molecules, serving simultaneously as a promising electrochromic material and a cross-linker, is fully utilized in the proposed electrochromic system, making its fabrication process much easier. Negligible decays in ΔT at both wavelengths were observed for the cured ECD after being subjected to 1000 repetitive cycles, while 17.1% and 22.0% decays were noticed at 570 and 615 nm, respectively, for the noncured ECD. In addition, the low voltage-driven feature of the VBV-based ECD enables it to be incorporated with phenyl viologen (PV), further expanding the absorption range of the ECD. Panchromatic characteristic of the proposed PV/VBV-based ECD was demonstrated while exhibiting ΔT over 60% at both wavelengths. Only 5.3% and 6.9% decays, corresponding at 570 and 615 nm, respectively, were observed in the PV/VBV-based ECD after 10 000 continuous cycles at bleaching/coloring voltages of 0/0.5 V with an interval of 10 s for both bleaching and coloring processes.