Structural, optical and Electrochromic properties of rare earth material (CeO 2 )/ Transitional metal oxide (WO 3 ) thin film composite structure for Electrochromic applications

Abstract

Abstract The present work developed a simple hydrothermal process for the growing of cerium oxide (CeO2) nanorods (NRs) on identical fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates, which does not require the use of a template. The sputter deposition was used to cover optimized tungsten oxide (WO3) films on the cerium oxide nanorod. The electrochromic device (ECD) was developed by depositing WO3 thin films at oxygen partial pressures (ppO2) of 8×10-4 mbar. The structural, morphological, optical, and Electrochromic (EC) properties of WO3 films on cerium oxide nanorods were characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), Raman spectroscopy (RS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), optical transmittance studies, and cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements, respectively. The diameters of the grown cerium oxide NRs are 917 ±85 nm, 721 ±115 nm, 596 ±56 nm, and 611 ±76 nm, and lengths are 0.911 ±0.16 µm, 1.121 ±0.121 µm, 1.157 ±1.101 µm, and 1.321 ±1.253 µm, respectively, Cerium nitrate hexahydrate concentration was raised from 0.06 M to 0.09 M while keeping the urea content constant at 0.5 M. The optical transmittance was varied with respect to the concentration of CeO2. Additionally, with a diffusion coefficient of 8.07 ×10-14 cm2/s, the hybrid WO3/ CeO2 NRs films have shown good electrochemical properties than pure WO3. According to electrochromic studies, 0.06 M film had a colouration efficiency of 13.88 cm2/C. We hope that a better knowledge of the influence of CeO2 NRs on WO3 electrochemical performance will able to select the proper doping components and concentrations for power-saving optoelectronic devices.