Synthesis and electrochromic application of surfactants tailored WO3 nanostructures

As WO3 is excellent material for electrochromic displays more investigation is needed to find the good and low cost method for preparation of WO3 nanostructures with uniform morphology and narrow distributions using a surfactant mediated method. In this study, the synthesis of WO3 nanostructures was accomplished using various surfactants such as polyethylene glycol, sodium chloride and sodium dodecyl sulfate and sodium tungstate and diethyl sulfate as the inorganic precursors. All samples were characterized for their opto-structural and morphological studies by UV–Vis spectrophotometer, X-ray diffractometer and scanning electron microscopy techniques. The electrochromic performance of these samples was studied in LiClO4/PC as electrolyte for Li+ insertion/extraction. The use of surfactants has been employed to enhance the uniformity of WO3 samples.

► The addition of surfactants sewed surface morphology of WO3 thin films effectively.
► Optostructural and morphological characterization reveals nanocrystalline phase formation with various nanostructures.
► The electrochromic characterizations show improvement in results with enhanced coloration efficiency.