Effects of Pre-reducing Sb-Doped SnO 2 Electrodes in Viologen-Anchored TiO 2 Nanostructure-Based Electrochromic Devices

• Published in: ETRI journal 2016, Vol.38 (3), p.469-478
• Main Authors: Cho, Seong Mok, Ah, Chil Seong, Kim, Tae-Youb, Song, Juhee, Ryu, Hojun, Cheon, Sang Hoon, Kim, Joo Yeon, Kim, Yong Hae, Hwang, Chi-Sun
• Format: Article
• Language: Korean
• ISSN: 1225-6463; 2233-7326

In this paper, we investigate the effects of pre-reducing Sb-doped $SnO_2$ (ATO) electrodes in viologen-anchored $TiO_2$ (VTO) nanostructure-based electrochromic devices. We find that by pre-reducing an ATO electrode, the operating voltage of a VTO nanostructure-based electrochromic device can be lowered; consequently, such a device can be operated more stably with less hysteresis. Further, we find that a pre-reduction of the ATO electrode does not affect the coloration efficiency of such a device. The aforementioned effects of a pre-reduction are attributed to the fact that a pre-reduced ATO electrode is more compatible with a VTO nanostructure-based electrochromic device than a non-pre-reduced ATO electrode, because of the initial oxidized state of the other electrode of the device, that is, a VTO nanostructure-based electrode. The oxidation state of a pre-reduced ATO electrode plays a very important role in the operation of a VTO nanostructure-based electrochromic device because it strongly influences charge movement during electrochromic switching.