Gasochromic effect in platinum-doped tungsten trioxide films prepared by the sol-gel method

Tungsten oxide doped by a complex of platinum exhibits a gasochromic effect. A reversible coloration is observed on successive exposure to hydrogen and air. The films were prepared by the sol-gel method at room temperature. They showed strong darkening (blue color) on exposure to hydrogen and were bleached completely when exposed to air. The process has been reproduced completely hundreds of times without any losses. The cycling of the coloration was obtained from W-Vis spectra and the mechanism deduced from both visible and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra. Colorimetric properties of the gasochromic films were expressed in color space chromaticity diagram.