Synergistic effects of co-doping WO3 with Al and Pt on photoelectrochromic performance

• Published in: Electrochemistry communications Vol. 165; p. 107762
• Main Authors: Akoth Okwako, Jacinta, Song, Seung Han, Park, Sunghyoek, Tran, Hung Van, Aduda, Bernard O., Waita, Sebastian, Hong, Young-Sik, Hong, Sungjun, Han, Chi-Hwan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-08-2024; Elsevier
• Subjects: Charge transfer; Co-doping; Smart window; Tungsten oxide; Tungsten oxide; Charge transfer; Smart window; Co-doping
• ISSN: 1388-2481; 1873-1902
• DOI: 10.1016/j.elecom.2024.107762

•Synergistic effect of co-doping WO3 with A l and Pt was realized.•Al and Pt ions were successfully incorporated into the crystal lattice of WO3.•Al doping significantly improved the optical modulation of WO3.•Incorporating of Pt into Al-WO3 layer did not affect its the optical modulation and instead resulted to significant improvement in the bleaching kinetics of the photoelectrochromic device.
In this work, we conduct a detailed study to understand the photoelectrochromic properties of Al-Pt co-doped tungsten oxide (WO3). Similarly, we support the photoelectrochromic findings with material characterization, providing additional understanding of the photoelectrochromic performance exhibited by the prepared samples. Additionally, we discuss the effects of Al and Pt doping on photoelectrochromic performance in detail, with a focus on X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) combined with EDS, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and optical transmittance. XRD peaks confirm the presence of hexagonally-structured WO3 in the prepared samples with a polycrystalline nature, and a similar observation is confirmed via TEM analysis. Surface characterizations conducted through SEM and EDS analyses unveil the morphologies and particle sizes. Optical studies show a bandgap of 1.88 eV and 1.95 eV for Al doped and Al-Pt co-doped WO3, indicating bandgap shrinkage in comparison to the optical bandgap of WO3 of 2.36 eV. The Al-Pt co-doping results in a significant enhancement in photoelectrochromic performance, attaining an optical modulation of 43.61 % at 550 nm and consequently 85 % of the initial transmittance recovered after 2 h of bleaching in the dark. This is an improvement in comparison to the Al doped sample which attains a coloration depth of 43.15 % at 550 nm with only 75 % of the original transmittance being recovered after 2 h under dark conditions.