Metal–organic
frameworks (MOFs), known for their tailorable porous structures and
large specific surface areas, are appealing for electrochromic applications
as their abundant pores may greatly benefit the charge transport required
for electrochromic switching. Herein, for the first time, a simple,
scalable, and cost-effective electrochemical deposition method for
fabrication of high-performance and durable MOFs-based electrochromic
films with redox-active ligands was developed. The fabricated film
can achieve rapid switching speed (both coloration and bleaching time <5
s) because the inherent cavities of the MOFs greatly facilitate ion
insertion and extraction. In addition, the film constructed with optimized
parameters shows a high optical contrast of 65%@700 nm and can be
stably switched for 1000 cycles with <5% contrast attenuation,
which is by far the best cycling performance for MOFs-based electrochromic
materials ever reported. Furthermore, our method enables the scalable
preparation of large-area MOFs-based electrochromic thin films without
using large high-pressure reaction vessels, and the as-prepared film
in this work could be switched well between colored and bleached states.
This new method, therefore, opens up a new avenue to broaden the use
of MOFs-based thin films for electrochromic applications.
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