Highly porous nickel oxide thin films were prepared on ITO glass by a simple chemical bath deposition (CBD) method in combination with a following heat-treatment process. XRD analysis revealed that the as-deposited precursor film contained beta-Ni(OH)(2) and gamma-NiOOH, and they changed to cubic polycrystalline NiO after annealing. The FTIR results showed presence of free hydroxyl ion and water in the NiO thin films. The electrochromic properties of NiO thin films were investigated in an aqueous alkaline electrolyte (1 M KOH) by means of transmittance, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA) measurements. The NiO thin film annealed at 300 degrees C exhibited a noticeable electrochromism and good memory effect. The coloration efficiency was calculated to be 42 cm(2) C-1 at 550 nm, with a variation of transmittance up to 82%. The porous NiO thin films also showed good reaction kinetics with fast switching speed, and the coloration and bleaching time were 8 and 10 s, respectively. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.