@article{Yan2026, 
author = {Yujie Yan and Nan Zhang and Guang Yang and Yu Zhang and Shujin Chen and Di Wang and Yuechan Li and Xiangjun Lu and Jianping Lin and Yi Wang and Meiqiu Dong and Lingjie Sun and Wei Cheng and An Xie and Fangxu Yang and Wenping Hu},
title = {Nature-inspired crater nanoarchitectures with 3D lateral pathways enable ultrafast ion diffusion and high optical modulation in sputtered electrochromic films},
year = {2026},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {19},
number = {2},
pages = {94908270},
keywords = {magnetron sputtering, tungsten oxide, electrochromic, nanostructured film},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2025.94908270},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2025.94908270},
abstract = {The development of smart windows based on electrochromic technology offers a promising route to reduce building energy consumption. However, conventional magnetron-sputtered inorganic electrochromic films, though robust and industrially compatible, suffer from intrinsically sluggish ion transport and limited optical modulation due to their compact morphology, a long-standing bottleneck restricting their practical performance. Here, we report a lunar crater-inspired nanostructuring strategy that creates vertically aligned and depth-tunable crater arrays within amorphous magnetron-sputtered electrochromic films without compromising their mechanical and structural integrity. These craters extend through the full thickness of the film to the underlying conductive electrode, establishing continuous three-dimensional (3D) lateral pathways for rapid ion diffusion. Using tungsten oxide (WO3) as a representative model, the resulted crater-like nanostructured WO3 films present markedly enhanced electrochromic performance, significantly surpassing previously reported values for sputtered inorganic films. Notably, the progressive ions efficiently insert into entire WO3 films along the 3D lateral to complete a full coloring switch and obtain a superior transmittance of only 2.23%. Additionally, the shortened ion transport pathways enabled by the 3D lateral diffusion in synergy with vertical injection largely accelerate the ion diffusion and migration processes, boasting a rapid switching time and a remarkable optical modulation exceeding 89.19% coloring in just 5.4 s. This work overcomes the fundamental trade-off between switching speed and optical contrast in conventional dense electrochromic layers and provides a universal platform for designing high-performance ion-involved solid-state devices through nanostructural engineering.}
}