Abstract
Electrochromic devices (ECDs), featuring passive optical modulation, backlight-free operation, and bistable low-power characteristics, are promising candidates for energy-efficient display applications. However, wide-gamut color modulation in electrochromic displays is hampered by both the narrow spectral tunability of conventional materials and the fabrication complexity of existing wide‑gamut devices. Herein, we develop an approach in achieving reversible wide-gamut color switching by depositing ellipsoidal metallic nanoparticles and an electrochromic WO3 layer in series. Specifically, the dielectric environment surrounding the metallic nanoparticles is dynamically altered by electrochemically modulating the refractive index of the WO3 layer, enabling precise tuning of the localized surface plasmon resonance absorption peak. As a result, a broad collective color gamut spanning the visible spectrum is achieved through Ag NP dimension engineering. In addition, the Ag NPs/WO3 working electrode exhibits a low electrode-level average coloration power density of 4 W m-2. We believe the results demonstrated in this work provide a new strategy for electrochromic display devices.
Keywords
References
-
1. Rao T, Zhou Y, Jiang J, Yang P, Liao W. Low dimensional transition metal oxide towards advanced electrochromic devices. Nano Energy. 2022;100:107479.[DOI]
-
2. Santosa ASS, Chang YW, Dahlin AB, Österlund L, Volpe G, Xiong K. Video‐rate tunable colour electronic paper with human resolution. Nature. 2025;646(8087):1089-1095.[DOI]
-
3. Choi Y, Ha R, Cha H. Fully automated OLED display power modeling for mobile devices. Pervasive Mob Comput. 2018;50:41-55.[DOI]
-
4. Li J, Zhuang Y, Chen J, Li B, Wang L, Liu S, et al. Two-dimensional materials for electrochromic applications. EnergyChem. 2021;3(5):100060.[DOI]
-
7. Li Y, Sun P, Chen J, Zha X, Tang X, Chen Z, et al. Colorful electrochromic displays with high visual quality based on porous metamaterials. Adv Mater. 2023;35(23):2300116.[DOI]
-
10. Gao E, Duan Z, Sun J, Yin M, Sun H, Wen RT. Charge-balance design in complementary electrochromic devices enabled by a diffusion-controlled electrochromic anode. Adv Funct Mater. 2026;36(56):e76604.[DOI]
-
11. Zhou Q, Shao P, Zhang R, Huang S, Zhang Y, Zhu Y, et al. Photo-electrochemical synergistically induced ion detrapping for electrochromic device rejuvenation. Matter. 2025;8(1):101877.[DOI]
-
12. Huang Q, Shao P, Hou M, Lei Y, Ou Z, Hu J, et al. TT-Nb2O5 with dual-band modulation and exceptional performance retention for fast-responsive electrochromics. Natl Sci Rev. 2025;12(6):nwaf154.[DOI]
-
13. Zhou Q, Tian X, Shao P, Yin M, Zhang C, Wen RT. In operando ultraviolet illumination enables self-healing electrochromic response. Adv Funct Mater. 2026;36(54):e75708.[DOI]
-
14. Mu L, Zhou L, Pang J, Xu M, Chen Z, Zhou Y, et al. Color reproduction of reflective display based on conjugated electrochromic polymer. Org Electronics. 2020;85:105850.[DOI]
-
15. Zhang W, Li H, Elezzabi AY. Electrochromic displays having two-dimensional CIE color space tunability. Adv Funct Mater. 2022;32(7):2108341.[DOI]
-
17. Huang L, Cao S, Liang Y, Chen J, Yang T, Zhao J, et al. Advances in multicolor electrochromic devices based on inorganic materials. J Mater Chem C. 2023;11(30):10107-10120.[DOI]
-
18. Zhang T, Dai Y, Li Y, Tang X, Hu Y, Chen Z, et al. Colorful transmissive all-solid-state electrochromic devices empowered by optical resonant cavities. Chem Eng J. 2025;516:164254.[DOI]
-
19. Tang X, Hu Z, Wang Z, Chen J, Mu X, Song G, et al. ITO/Cu multilayer electrodes for high-brightness electrochromic displays. eScience. 2022;2(6):632-638.[DOI]
-
20. Chen J, Song G, Cong S, Zhao Z. Resonant-cavity-enhanced electrochromic materials and devices. Adv Mater. 2023;35(47):2300179.[DOI]
-
22. Guo J, Jia H, Jin P, Huang A, Li Z, Shao Z, et al. Transparent-to-reflective multicolor all-solid-state electrochromic devices for next-generation intelligent display windows. Adv Mater. 2025;37(41):e00350.[DOI]
-
23. Xiao L, Lv Y, Lin J, Hu Y, Dong W, Guo X, et al. WO3-based electrochromic distributed Bragg reflector: Toward electrically tunable microcavity luminescent device. Adv Opt Mater. 2018;6:1700791.[DOI]
-
24. Kim KS, Eom SY, Yang SH, Jo JW, Sun F, Lee R, et al. Intrinsically stretchable large-area pixelated electrochromic displays via direct photopatterning. Nat Commun. 2026;17:6371.[DOI]
-
25. Daqiqeh Rezaei S, Dong Z, You En Chan J, Trisno J, Ng RJH, Ruan Q, et al. Nanophotonic structural colors. ACS Photonics. 2021;8(1):18-33.[DOI]
-
26. Zhao Y, Jiang Q, Wu X, Gao D, Zhu P, Li Y, et al. Multicolor electrochromic metamaterials based on Mie scatterer nanospheres. Adv Opt Mater. 2024;12(24):2400838.[DOI]
-
29. Uji S, Kimura S, Nakamura K, Kobayashi N. Analysis for coloration mechanism of reversible silver deposition-based electrochromic device by in situ observation of plasmonic nanoparticles with dark-field microscopy. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells. 2023;251:112119.[DOI]
-
30. Tsuboi A, Nakamura K, Kobayashi N. Multicolor electrochromism showing three primary color states (cyan–magenta–yellow) based on size- and shape-controlled silver nanoparticles. Chem Mater. 2014;26(22):6477-6485.[DOI]
-
31. Tsuboi A, Nakamura K, Kobayashi N. A localized surface plasmon resonance-based multicolor electrochromic device with electrochemically size-controlled silver nanoparticles. Adv Mater. 2013;25(23):3197-3201.[DOI]
-
32. Bohren CF, Huffman DR. Absorption and scattering of light by small particles. 1st ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1998.
-
33. Gans R. Über die form ultramikroskopischer goldteilchen. Ann Phys. 1912;342(5):881-900.[DOI]
-
35. Yin M, Ou Z, Huang Q, Feng W, Shao P, Wen RT. Evolution of polaron hopping in amorphous electrochromic trioxides. Matter. 2026;9(4):102636.[DOI]
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2026. This is an Open Access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Publisher’s Note
Share And Cite


