Hybrid Ag/Ni mesh/PH 1000 transparent electrodes for high performance flexible electrochromic devices with exceptional stability

Abstract

Flexible electrochromic technology has gained numerous attentions in flexible smart wearable devices and flexible display. For large-area flexible electrochromic devices (FECD), highly conductive transparent electrodes with advanced stability at a prolonged redox cycling process are indispensable. In this work, an electrochemically stable silver (Ag)/nickel (Ni) mesh/PH 1000 hybrid transparent film has been successfully fabricated by selectively depositing metallic Ni and coating PH 1000 on hybrid-printed Ag mesh. The prepared hybrid transparent film presented high conductivity with the sheet resistance of below 1.5 Ω/sq at over 80% optical transmittance. The Ag/Ni mesh/PH 1000 was successfully utilized as current collectors for all-solid-state flexible electrochromic devices, showing fast coloration switching with the bleaching/coloring time of 0.7 s/0.9 s. In addition, the device demonstrated an exceptional electrochemical cycling stability, which could sustain 89% of its initial optical modulation after 25000 cycles. More importantly, a remarkable mechanical durability was also achieved with a small optical modulation decay of 15% and invariable response time after 1000 rolling cycles. In addition, the uniform coloration has been realized on a 6×6 cm2 FECD, demonstrating its great potential for applications of next-generation up-scaling FECDs.