Color Palette Tactic for Multicolor Electrochromics Enabled by Electrolyte Thermochromic Engineering

Abstract Electrochromism is a reversible color change triggered by the external electrical field, which can be utilized in smart windows, displays, etc. The ability to display multiple colors in a single electrochromic device is highly beneficial for the versatile applications of the electrochromic technique. Yet, achieving the ability to adopt multiple colors in one electrochromic device has proven to be a challenging task by merely using the conventional chemical structure engineering of the electrochromic materials. In this study, a thermochromic electrolyte is introduced. A multicolor electrochromic prototype device is produced by integrating the thermochromic engineered electrolyte together with electrochromic material in which both can independently contribute to the coloring of the device. This “color palette” strategy gives an additional degree of freedom and extensive flexibility to the design of multicolor electrochromic devices. It introduces a new pathway for producing multicolor electrochromic devices and removes a bottleneck imposed by conventional strategies merely depending on the electrochromic material structure engineering. Moreover, it inspires further development of electrolytes, that share the responsibility of tuning the optical properties of electrochromic devices together with the electrochromic materials, thereby accelerating and diversifying the applications of electrochromics in industry.