Zinc Ion Intercalation/Deintercalation of Metal Organic Framework-Derived Nanostructured NiO@C for Low-Transmittance and High-Performance Electrochromism

Electrochromic materials hold great promise in energy-saving windows of buildings and various functional glasses. When constructing a private space, it is difficult for electrochromic materials to achieve zero transmission in the entire visible light range and achieve 100% privacy, which limits their applications in public places. In this work, a metal organic framework-derived nanostructured NiO@C film was prepared, and a green multivalent cation (Zn2+, Al3+) aqueous solution was used as the electrolyte to provide multiple electrons in electrochromism. This system can achieve low transmittance, rapid response, and good stability. The as-obtained NiO@C material can achieve zero transmission in the range of 300–1600 nm. After 100 cycles, the response time is still fast and there is almost no performance degradation, which provides new possibility for the application of private windows and the essence of other functional windows.