Synthesis of cesium tungsten bronze by a solution-based chemical route and the NIR shielding properties of cesium tungsten bronze thin films

In this study, hexagonal Cs 0.32 WO 3 powders were synthesized by a simple solution-based chemical route. The experiment can be performed within a relatively short time and can easily produce large amounts of hexagonal Cs 0.32 WO 3 powders. The Cs x WO 3 powders as synthesized and after heat treatment were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, differential thermal and thermogravimetric analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Cs x WO 3 thin films were deposited by an electron beam evaporation method from sintered Cs 0.32 WO 3 powders as the targets. The Cs x WO 3 films were annealed at different temperatures under Ar and Ar/H 2 atmospheres. The effects of annealing on the microstructure, morphology and near-infrared (NIR) shielding properties of the Cs 0.32 WO 3 films are discussed. The results show that the Cs 0.32 WO 3 thin film specimen annealed for 500 °C in an Ar/H 2 atmosphere has the highest transmittance (80%) in the visible light region and the lowest transmittance (42%) in the NIR region.