The limited optical contrast and band adjustment range are the main factors that restrict chromic materials. In this study, Li+/Al3+ composite solid electrolyte is incorporated between VO2 and WO3 chromic functional layers to construct a new type of VO2 based electrothermal dual responsive devices. The dual responsive devices deliver optical contrast over 50% and independent modulation of visible and near infrared band. In addition to displaying four reversible optical states in response to environmental temperature and external voltage, the devices effectively utilize the synergistic effect of Li+/Al3+ hybrid ions. Furthermore, the optimized Li+/Al3+ composite electrolyte is proved to effectively control phase transition of VO2 and significantly improve the electrochromic properties of WO3 as well. Finally, the electro‐thermal dual responsive devices show excellent service stability in simulated outdoor environment of over 10 000 cycles. Combined with the above advantages, it is expected to develop smart windows and derivative products with large size, long life, remarkable energy saving effect and pleasant comfort.
Flexible vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) thermochromic films show great potential for large-scale fabrication and possess broader applications compared with VO 2 coatings on rigid substrates. However, the fabrication of flexible VO 2 films remains a challenge so far, leading to the scarcity of research on flexible VO 2 films for smart windows. With the aim to obtain a flexible VO 2based films with excellent optical properties and a long service life, we designed and successfully fabricated a flexible ITO/VO 2 /ITO (IVI) film on the colorless transparent polyimide substrate, which could be directly attached to glasses for indoor temperature modulation. This flexible IVI film effectively enhances the luminous transmittance (T lum ) and solar modulation ability (ΔT sol ) (15 and 68% increase relative to a VO 2 single layer), reduces the thermal emissivity (ε T ) (50.7% decrease relative to a VO 2 single layer), and exhibits better durability than previously reported structures. Such excellent comprehensive performance offers it great potential in practical applications on smart windows. This work is supposed to provide a new strategy for facile direct fabrication of flexible VO 2 films and broaden the applications of flexible VO 2 in more coatings and devices.
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