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The electrochromic properties of the film enhanced by forming WO3 and PANI core–shell structure

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Abstract

Electrochromism refers to the change in the reversible color of certain materials in response to an electric field to regulate light. In this paper, WO3 thin films were prepared by hydrothermal method, and then PANI was deposited on the surface of WO3 by electrodeposition method. The organic and non-electrochromic materials were combined together, and the core–shell structure of WO3/PANI was finally obtained. The electrochromic properties of core–shell composite films are significantly improved. In particular, the cyclic stability of core–shell composite films is superior to that of single material electrochromic films. At the same time, the composite film demonstrates fast electrochromic response and large ion diffusion coefficient. The Li+ diffusion coefficient of WO3 film is 4.37 × 10–10 cm2/s, and that of WO3/PANI film is 4.93 × 10–10 cm2/s, 13% higher than that of the single film. The number of electrons and ions entering the film is greatly increased, and these improvements optimize the electrochromic properties of the film. The results show that WO3/PANI core–shell structure has broad research and application prospects as electrochromic materials.

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  1. School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Xinxiang University, Xinxiang, 453003, China

    Yuhua Zhang & Lei Zhao

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  1. Yuhua Zhang
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YZ and LZ contributed to experimental scheme and writing––original draft preparation; YZ experimental validation and data curation; LZ did examination. All the authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Lei Zhao.

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Zhang, Y., Zhao, L. The electrochromic properties of the film enhanced by forming WO3 and PANI core–shell structure. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 20802–20811 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-08889-0

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