A high-performance electrochromic device assembled with hexagonal WO3 and NiO/PB composite nanosheet electrodes towards energy storage smart window

• Published in: Solar energy materials and solar cells 2020-04, Vol.207, p.110337, Article 110337
• Main Authors: Pan, Jianbo, Zheng, Rongzong, Wang, Yi, Ye, Xingke, Wan, Zhongquan, Jia, Chunyang, Weng, Xiaolong, Xie, Jianliang, Deng, Longjiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammonium chloride; Bi-functional device; Bleaching; Capacitance; Coloration; Composite material; Electrochromic; Electrochromic cells; Electrochromism; Electrodes; Energy storage; Erythritol; Nanoparticles; Nanosheets; Nickel oxides; Optical properties; Pigments; Redox reactions; Smart materials; Tungsten oxides; Window functions; Windows (apertures); WO3
• ISSN: 0927-0248; 1879-3398
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2019.110337

Functions of electrochromism and energy exchange can be achieved by redox reactions, which indicate designing a bi-functional electrochromic energy storage device (EESD) is feasible. In this paper, a NiO/PB composite nanosheet electrode was prepared via loading Prussian blue (iron (Ⅲ) hexacyanoferrate (Ⅱ), PB) nanoparticles on the surface of NiO nanosheets, meanwhile, a high-performance WO3 negative electrode was also prepared via novel erythritol-assisted hydrothermal method with NH4Cl used as capping agent. The designed EESD exhibited properties of large optical modulation (67.6% at 630 nm), high coloration efficiency (109.6 cm2 C-1), fast switching speed (2.8/7.9 s for bleaching/coloration) and long cycle life (ΔT remaining was 84.1% after 4000 cycles). Meanwhile, the EESD also obtained attractive energy storage properties at a potential window from 0 to +1.3 V. Impressively, the EESD exhibited a high areal capacitance of 11.50 mF cm-2 at current density of 0.05 mA cm-2 and the process of charging/discharging can be repeated at least 4000 cycles with a little decay. Therefore, the bi-functional EESD exhibits high promising application prospect. [Display omitted] •A novel erythritol-assisted method to directly grow high-performance WO3 film.•The novel NiO/PB composite nanosheets exhibited attractive performances.•The cyclic stability of EESD was improved by constructing composite structure.•The EESD obtained outstanding electrochromic and energy storage performances.