Preparation and electrochromic properties of Ag/WO₃ composite thin film and application to an electrochromic device

An Ag nanoparticle film, which was fabricated by a vacuum deposition method from high purity Ag wire onto cleaned ITO, was uniform and smooth. An Ag/WO₃ composite film was prepared by cathodic electrodeposition of WO₃ onto the surface of the Ag nanoparticle film. Moreover, an Ag/WO₃ nanocomposite film based 5-layer electrochromic device (glass/ITO/Ag-WO₃ nanocomposite film/solid electrolyte/poly(3-methythiophene)/ITO/glass) was constructed and its electrochromic properties were also investigated in this paper. In comparison with a single component system (WO₃), a substantial enhancement in the electrochromic performance for the Ag embedded WO₃ composite system was clearly observed. The method of constructing this electrochromic device was simple and its electrochromic properties appeared good.