Tungsten-Titanium Heterostructure Material -- Smart Window Coating Material

Tungsten trioxide is not only a kind of n-type semiconductor material, but also a kind of "d0" oxide. This dual identity makes tungsten trioxide have catalytic, optical and electrical properties at the same time, making it a basic material for industrial manufacturing such as smart windows, electronic packaging, secondary lithium batteries, gas sensors and so on.

Recently, American scientists have linked titanium and tungsten, two materials with different crystal structures, to synthesize a new material of heterostructure. This material structure was considered impossible in the past, but with the development of technology, scientists have been able to ensure that crystal bonds can last in daily life and then be used in industry.

In the search for the materials needed, scientists must simultaneously understand the properties of tungsten and titanium materials, such as electronic properties, structure and long-term stability. In the laboratory, mixed oxides of tungsten and titanium oxides are the initial focus of heterostructure alloys. They can be used in sensor technology, window coating or semiconductor technology.

"Material combinations are very exciting," scientists say. Titanium oxide is very stable and can be used in toothpaste, wall paints and solar cells. On the other hand, tungsten oxide is relatively unstable and can be used in gas sensors, smart windows, or even catalytic converters in petroleum chemistry. In the past, research has only focused on optimizing material properties, but neglected the new characteristics of creating materials.

In order to fabricate these tungsten-titanium heterostructure alloys, Siol and his colleagues used different industrial scalable methods - controlling the oxidation of thin metal films in electrolyte solutions or tubular furnaces, and reactive sputtering, in which metals are oxidized directly in the process.

In new applications, new materials are essential for semiconductor coatings in electrochromic windows. Electrochromic windows need to last for many years in harsh environments, exposed to temperature fluctuations and sunlight, and the performance of traditional tungsten oxide materials will decline significantly. However, thin films made of tungsten-titanium heterostructure alloys can achieve long-term stability.

Therefore, it is of practical significance to continue to study and develop such "impossible" oxide heterostructure alloys.

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