The research team led by XJTU professor Wang Hong has designed a novel electrochromic layered-structure. They simplified the internal structure of traditional electrochromic devices by depositing a multifunctional hydrogel on a tungsten oxide film. The ionic hydrogel based electrochromic device exhibits significant color change with transmittance modulation up to 70% at periodic bias. The response rate and coloration efficiency of the new device has been greatly improved when compared to the traditional ones. In addition, the research has demonstrated the first erasable and rewritable ionic writing board based on the theory of electrochromism and has overcome the challenges in creating a rewritable electrochromic display that can be driven by a bias as low as 1 V. Their work is significant to the design and development of the next-generation electrochromic devices, and proposes a new application of ionic hydrogel.

Related results have been published in the well-known journal of material science Materials Horizons(IF=13.18) under the title Multifunctional hydrogel enables extremely simplified electrochromic devices for smart window and ionic writing board.

Link to the article:

http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/mh/c8mh00856f#!divAbstract