Stability enhancement of an electrically tunable colloidal photonic crystal using modified electrodes with a large electrochemical potential window

Abstract: The color tuning behavior and switching stability of an electrically-tunable colloidal photonic crystal system were studied with particular focus on the electrochemical aspects. Modification of the ITO-coated glass electrode to include a passivation layer increased the switching reliability; however, this methodology resulted in a reduction of the color tuning range. Replacing the ITO with a material with a larger electrochemical potential window, such as conductive diamond-like carbon (DLC) and boron-doped diamond (BDD), enhanced the stability by reducing the number of ions generated during electrical switching.