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Today, the earnest need for earth-abundant and environmentally friendly thermoelectric materials has revealed the importance of semiconductor metal oxides in order to eliminate the barrier towards their wide-ranging use in industrial applications. In the present work, we demonstrate the synthesis of p-type tin oxide thin films on quartz glass and Si substrates by using electron beam evaporation technique followed by rapid thermal annealing process at 200 °C for 20 min in Ar-atmosphere. Annealing-induced structural, electrical, optical and thermoelectric properties of pristine and annealed SnO thin films are primarily studied. The compositional and structural analysis of SnO films are performed by using X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscope as well as Atomic Force Microscope. Moreover, the mechanism of thermoelectric transportation at different measurement temperatures is deeply inspected via thermoelectric measurements. The Seebeck coefficient, carrier concentration and hole mobility in conjunction with the development of thin film nanostructures are discussed, predominantly. The optimal annealing may tune structural, electro-optic and thermoelectric properties of SnO films for the commercial-level maturity of thermoelectric devices for energy applications. • Synthesis of high quality p-type SnO thin films by e-beam evaporation method. • Phase stability can be achieved by optimal annealing of tin oxide thin films. • Electrical resistivity and mobility affects the thermoelectric properties. • Optimal annealing reduces the crystal imperfections and band-tail states in SnO films. • The air-annealing induces the phase transition in SnO x thin films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Synthesis of high quality p-type SnO thin films by e-beam evaporation method. • Post deposition heat treatment of SnO x films at temperature (300–700 °C). • Optimal annealing reduces the crystal imperfections and band-tail states in SnO films. • Study of temperature-dependent morphology evolution for preferred crystal growth. In the present work, we demonstrate the growth of tin oxide (SnO x) thin films using electron beam evaporation method to study the phase transition from stannous oxide (SnO) to stannic oxide (SnO 2) by varying annealing temperature (i.e., from 300 to 700 °C). Annealing induced morphology evolution and structural modifications stimulate the process of phase-transformation, which is primarily discussed by divided the entire temperature range into two-regimes. Regime-A (from 300 to 400 °C) consists of tetragonal α-SnO dominated phase, regime-B (from 600 to 700 °C) exhibits orthorhombic pure SnO 2 phase. However, these regimes are being separated by an interface conferring a mixed-phase of tin oxides at an annealing temperature ∼500 °C. This temperature-dependent phase-inversion is adequately controlled by tuning the morphological, structural and optical properties of SnO x thin films to develop homo/heterostructures for various photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Long-term-stable WO 3 -PB complementary electrochromic devices were constructed. • The long-term stability and high optical modulation of electrochromic devices are exhibited. • Electrochemical refinement analysis of WO 3 and PB electrodes is performed. • The synergistic effects of Li+ and H+ on WO 3 and PB electrodes are clarified. The complementary electrochromic devices based on WO 3 and Prussian blue electrodes (PB) have shown a limited chemical stability and durability because WO 3 is degraded in electrochromic performance and PB is gradually dissolved in the Li+-based electrolyte under neutral pH conditions. Herein, the utilization of acetic acid as super-additive solution was proposed to improve WO 3 cathodes and stabilize PB anodes, in which the highly nanoporous nanocrystal-in-glass WO 3 and hierarchical PB was made by electron beam evaporation and electrochemical deposition method, respectively. Our findings suggest that synergistic effects of Li+ and H+ on WO 3 and Prussian blue electrodes contribute to the improvement on electrochemical, electrochromic, and cycling stability performance of the whole device. Impressively, the WO 3 -PB complementary electrochromic device could experience a superior long-term cycling stability of over 10,000 cycles, with a high coloration efficiency of 137.80 cm2 C−1 and a maximum transmittance modulation of 66.22%@ 633 nm. All these results open a new way to the construction of high-performance electrochromic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]