Electro‐Induced Self‐Reduction TiO₂ in Viologen‐Based Ionogels for Multi‐Color Electrochromic Displays

Abstract

Reflective electrochromic (EC) technology is expected to e‐paper display field, and integrating optical reflective electrolyte as the optical reflective layer is a common strategy for constructing reflective EC devices. Compositing inorganic particles and electrolytes is one of the simplest and most efficient composite methods, but these composite electrolytes usually cannot perform well together in terms of both optical and electrochemical properties. Herein, the TiO2 nanoparticles are added to the ethyl viologen‐based ionogel (T‐EVG, one typical kind of EC/electrolyte) to have the highest visible light reflectivity and the best electrochemical performance compared with SiO2, Al2O3, and ZnO nanoparticles, which is attributed to the electro‐induced self‐reduction TiO2 produced in T‐EVG during EC cycling. Meanwhile, the corresponding EC devices can display red, green, and blue, and have high optical contrast (CIE Lab: ΔE>38), fast switching spend (<4 s, the fastest is 5 Hz), ultra‐low power density (<4.0 mW cm−2), and excellent cycling stability (>85% retained after 10 000 cycles). Finally, a simple 3×3 pixelated EC display array is prepared, and single‐ and multi‐point (including diagonal points) multi‐color display effects are realized through active‐matrix driving and high‐frequency refresh, demonstrating its application value in the high‐performance e‐paper display.