Optical,structural and electrochromic studies of molybdenum oxide thin films with nanorod structure

The MoO₃ thin films were prepared via sol–gel dip coating method on glass and FTO glass substrate. The optical and other properties of multilayered MoO₃ films with 2–10 layers were investigated. The MoO₃ films were studied using UV–Visible transmission, XRD, SEM, FTIR and Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) measurements. The band gap value for MoO₃ films was evaluated and in the range of 3.2 eV–3.72 eV. The XRD spectrum reveals that the crystallinity increases along the (020) and (040) planes with the increase in thickness. The SEM images showed the formation of nanorods upto six layers. The FTIR spectrum confirms the formation of MoO₃. The 6 layered films show the maximum anodic (spike)/cathodic (peak) diffusion coefficient of 18.84/1.701 × 10^?11 cm²/s. The same film exhibits the change in optical transmission of 49% with the bleached/coloured state transmission of 62/13%.