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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Some transition metal oxides are known to exhibit the reversible coloration phenomena. Tungsten oxide is one of such materials and exhibits the photochromism and the electrochromism. It is known that the coloration phenomena in the tungsten oxide hydrate are caused by the redox reaction. We found that the photochromic efficiency became extremely higher by addition of some organic materials to the tungsten oxide hydrate and we have studied the mechanism of such a remarkable photochromic enhancement. In some spectroscopic measurement as FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) and XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), we obtained interesting features as follows. The addition of an organic material leads to reducing the tungsten oxide hydrate to smaller pieces, that is, the surface area of the pieces that can react with the additive increases. Moreover, it was found that specific sites in the additive are oxidized when the sample colors. The fact suggests that the additives having such specific sites can enhance the photochromism of the tungsten oxide hydrate