Multicolor electrochromic electrodes with infrared emittance modulation based on WO3 photonic crystal

Abstract At present, the realization of multi-band regulation has gradually become the main research trend of electrochromism. It aims to achieve artificial control of the visible band for the change of the external color of the object, and the electronically controllable infrared emissivity makes it further enhance the camouflage ability. Regrettably, the function of achieving multi-band regulation is accomplished by two independent parts in most studies, which implies the non-intelligence of the design. Here, a novel electrochromic electrode-based WO x photonic crystal (PC) was proposed, which was constructed by an alternate depositing WO x layer with different substrate angles on indium-tin-oxide (ITO) coated glass by the glancing-angle magnetron sputtering at room temperature. Different initial colors were obtained for WO x PC films through the regulation of refractive index and thickness. Combined with the electrochromic property, the color gamut of WO x PC films has been further expanded, achieving multi-color tunability. Importantly, the average modulation of maximum infrared emission can be achieved at 0.29 (3–5 μ m) and 0.18 (8–14 μ m), indicating that the simultaneous realization of visible-infrared dual bands regulation based on a single WO x functional layer is expected to provide a new solution for multi-band regulation.