Structural Color Boosted Electrochromic Devices: Strategies and Applications

Abstract Electrochromic devices (ECDs) have attracted substantial attention on account of their unique characteristics and prosperous applications. However, their monotonous color modification remains a momentous challenge that significantly restricts their application scope. Integrating structural colors that arise from the interaction between light and periodic micro/nanostructures with electrochromic materials (ECMs) turns out to be an effective approach to enhancing the comprehensive performance of ECDs more than the coloration effectiveness. This review provides an overview on the recent burgeoning development of structural color ECDs regarding strategies and applications. The performance parameters of ECDs and physical principles regarding the generation of structural colors are introduced. Then, strategies that introduce structural colors into ECDs are discussed according to the category of chromogenic micro/nanostructures, namely, gratings, (single‐layer and multilayer) thin films, photonic crystals, plasmonic metasurfaces, and composite structures. The current state‐of‐the‐art research activities of structural color ECDs for display application including segmented and pixelated devices are also presented. Additionally, the future perspective of structural color ECDs with respect of major challenges and potential solutions is proposed.