Characterization of WO₃-ZnO Thin Films Deposited via Chemical Route

The WO₃-ZnO nanofilm was synthesized via chemical route on substrate of fluorine-doped tin oxide(FTO) glass.The influence of the end-blocking agents,including sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate(SDBS) and trioctyl metabisulfate(TOTM),on the microstructures and electrochemical properties was investigated with X-ray diffraction,scanning electron microscopy and electrochemical workstation.The preliminary results show that the SDBS-addition outperformed the TOTM-addition,possibly because of the different nanostructures.For instance,in the colored state,the transmission spectra of the WO₃-ZnO nanofilms,added with SDBS and TOTM and mainly comprising nanoflaks,showed a significant blue-shift and the SDBS-addition accounted for a better de-coloration.The transmittances of the SDBS-added and TOTM-added WO₃-ZnO nanofilms were 82% and 75%,respectively.When it comes to CV and CA curves,the SDBS-addition brought about a higher current and enclosed a larger area,resulting in the colored(bleached) response-time of 12.8 s(4.9 s).