Optical properties of electrochromic vanadium pentoxide

Abstract

Electrochemical and spectroscopic measurements were used to characterize the electrochromic behavior of sputtered V2O5 films. In response to lithium intercalation, the fundamental optical absorption edge of V2O5 shifts to high energies by 0.20–0.31 eV as the lithium concentration increases from Li0.0V2O5 to Li0.86V2O5. There is a corresponding increase in the near-infrared absorption that exhibits Beer’s law behavior at low lithium concentrations. The shift in absorption edge results in a large decrease in absorbance in the 350–450 nm wavelength range. This effect is most prevalent in thin films which exhibit a yellow to colorless optical modulation on lithium intercalation. The cathodic coloration in the near infrared is relatively weak with a maximum coloration efficiency of 35 cm2/C.