Highly efficient electro-optically tunable smart-supercapacitors using an oxygen-excess nanograin tungsten oxide thin film

A smart supercapacitor shares the same electrochemical processes as a conventional energy storage device while also having electrochromic functionality. The smart supercapacitor device can sense the energy storage level, which it displays in a visually discernible manner, providing increased convenience in everyday applications. Here, we report an electro-optically tunable smart supercapacitor based on an oxygen-rich nanograin WO₃ electrode. The nanostructured WO₃ electrode is dark blue in color in the charged state and becomes transparent in its discharged state with a high optical modulation of 82%. The supercapacitor has a specific capacitance of 228 F g⁻¹ at 0.25 Ag⁻¹ with a large potential window (1.4 V). It is highly durable, exhibits good electrochemical stability over 2000 cycles, retains 75% of its initial capacitance, and exhibits high coloration efficiency (~170 cm²/C). The excellent electrochromic and electrochemical supercapacitor properties of the electrode is due to the synergetic effect between nanograin morphology and excess oxygen. A smart-supercapacitor fabricated with an oxygen-rich nanograin WO₃ electrode exhibits a superb combination of energy storage and highly-efficient electrochromic features in one device that can monitor the energy storage level through visible changes in color.