Optical and electrochromic properties of sol–gel made anti-reflective WO3–TiO2 films

The study is an analysis of the optical and electrochromic properties of antireflective WO3–TiO2 thin films prepared by sol–gel method. TiO2 (1, 5, 10 and 15 mol%)–mixed WO3 thin films were deposited on ITO-coated glass and Corning glass substrates by spin process. The titanium content of the layers was determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Effects of annealing temperature and titanium content on the electrochromic and optical properties of the WO3–TiO2 films were investigated by cyclic voltammograms with in situ monochromatic transmittance measurements. Sol–gel derived WO3–TiO2 anti-reflection coatings on glass substrates are successfully developed. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) pictures of pure WO3 and WO3–TiO2 films indicate that even small titania contents can lead to significant structural changes of tungsten oxide films.