Nonthermal Plasma Tailoring of Sol–Gel Thin Films for Enhanced Electrochemical Activity: From Electrochromics to Oxygen Evolution
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Updated Time:2026-10-10 23:24:44
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Invited speech
Abstract
Unlocking the electrochemical potential of sol–gel-derived thin films without high-temperature processing remains a critical challenge for flexible and energy-efficient devices. Here, we show that nonthermal oxygen plasma (NTP) treatment at room temperature directly enhances the electrochemical activity of oxide and layered double hydroxide (LDH) films through a dual mechanism: controlled crystallization with suppressed particle coarsening, and simultaneous surface activation via defect engineering and functional group tailoring. In TiO₂ electrochromic electrodes, NTP treatment yields a large optical modulation of 37.6% and rapid switching kinetics by facilitating Li⁺ intercalation. In NiFe-LDH oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts, NTP induces ordered carbonate intercalation and a structured interlayer water network, enabling efficient proton transport and delivering an overpotential of 284 mV at 100 mA cm⁻² with 50-hour stability at 500 mA cm⁻². This work establishes NTP as a versatile, low-temperature platform for electrochemically active thin films in energy conversion and smart device applications.
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