Abstract
Owing to their electrochromic performance, hierarchically structured transition-metal oxides have promising energy-saving device applications. In this study, nanosheet-structured nickel-cobalt (Ni-Co) oxide thin films were prepared via facile processes under simple solution conditions and were used as energy-saving electrochromic materials. As the growth time increased from 1.5 h to 8 h, the film thickness increased from ~ 0.7 μm to ~ 1.3 μm, and the porous nanosheet-like structures were more uniformly distributed throughout the thin film. At the 1000th cyclic voltammetry (CV) cycle (scan rate = 50 m/V), the in situ transmittance variation (\(\Delta T\)) and optical density (\(\Delta {\text{OD}}\)) of an Ni-Co oxide thin film grown for 8 h were ~ 49% and ~ 0.71 at a wavelength of 700 nm, respectively, which were better than those of samples grown for 1.5 h (\(\Delta T\) of ~ 26%, \(\Delta {\text{OD}}\) of ~ 0.19) and 3 h (\(\Delta T\) of ~ 46%, \(\Delta {\text{OD}}\) of ~ 0.61). However, the Ni-Co oxide thin-film samples grown for 1.5 h and 3 h had good electrochromic durability over 1000 cycles, with reversibility of 0.99. These Ni-Co oxide thin films exhibited tunable color modulation in the bleached and colored states, along with fast switching time (< 4 s) and excellent coloration memory effects.
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Acknowledgments
This work was partially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Science Research (c) (No.21K04149) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The authors would like to thank Susumu Tokuda of the Open Facility Center of the Kitami Institute of Technology for technical assistance with FESEM measurements.
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Kim, K.H., Numata, K. Electrochromic Durability and Color Variation of Thickness-Controlled Nanosheet-Structured Nickel–Cobalt Oxide Thin Films. J. Electron. Mater. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-024-11114-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-024-11114-9