Electrochromic performance of WO3 films with different ITO layers

• Electrochromic (EC) materials are able to change their optical properties such as transmission, absorption and reflection reversibly by application of an external voltage. EC metal oxides are divided into two groups: cathodic (coloring under ion insertion) and anodic (coloring under ion extraction). Tungsten oxide (WO3) is a well-known cathodic EC material and has been intensively studied in the last 30 years. EC materials and devices have been developed as an alternative to passive coating materials for light and heat management. Conventionally, an EC device is a construction with five-layers: transparent conducting oxide (TCO)/cathodic EC/ion conducting layer (liquid, gel or solid)/anodic EC/TCO, either all on one substrate or positioned between two substrates in a laminated configuration. Indium-tin oxide (ITO) coated substrates are used as a TCO electrode in EC applications due to their high conductivity and transparency.In this study, we deposited WO3 films onto ITO coated glass substrates with different sheet resistances (15, 30, 60 and 1000 Ω/□) by using DC magnetron sputtering technique. Optical and structural properties of ITO films were investigated. For durability studies, cyclic voltammetry data was recorded for up to 500 cycles between 2.0 and 4.0 V versus Li/Li+ at a scan rate of 20 mV s−1. Chronoamperometry measurements of the WO3 films were also performed. We measured the inserted and extracted charges as well as bleaching and coloring times of WO3 films with different ITO layer properties. Generally, ITO with low resistivity is preferred for the electrochemical measurements while absorption is low in the near-infrared region for ITO with higher resistivity. In this study, it is observed that the ITO with 60 Ω/□ sheet resistance is very suitable for optical and electrochromic measurements.

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Engineering Science with specialization in Solid State Physics

Teknisk fysik med inriktning mot fasta tillståndets fysik

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