Ionic liquid- and surfactant-controlled crystallization of WO3 films.

WO3 films were obtained via evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) using ionic surfactants such as long-chain ionic liquids 1-hexadecyl-3-methyl imidazolium chloride and bromide (C16mimCl and C16mimBr, respectively) and cetyltrimethylammonium chloride and bromide (CTAC and CTAB, respectively) as additives. Owing to the presence of the ionic surfactants, WO3 films crystallize in a preferred orientation along the a-axis on different substrates, as evidenced by X-ray diffraction. WO3 films with this orientation show improved electrochromic properties when compared to films with a lower degree of crystallographic orientation, prepared in an analogue fashion.