SiO ₂ , an insulator, hardly has any photocatalytic acitivity due to its intrinsic property, and it is generally used as a hard template to increase the surface area of catalysts.

The reversible phase transition of vanadium dioxide under thermal, electrical, and optical stimuli is the enabling concept for the functioning of smart materials and is the basis for the development of various device materials such as optical, electrical, thermal, and mechanical devices based on VO₂ on rigid and flexible platforms. The phase transition temperature of VO₂ near room temperature is considered an excellent choice and a potential candidate to replace traditional materials in a variety of applications. There is a growing interest in VO₂ applications for a wide range of devices, and the use of VO₂’s structure to manipulate and explore the functions of various application devices, as well as the modification of VO₂ structures to improve performance in a variety of materials, can lead to extremely exciting innovations. A lot of effort has been put into the challenges of practical production and practical application, and it is necessary to find an industrially feasible manufacturing method for the preparation of VO₂ films, which is the basis for the practical application of VO₂-based equipment. Based on this background, we first briefly describe the structure of VO₂, the phase transition mechanisms involved, and the factors and other properties induced by the phase transition of VO₂. Then, the current status and advantages and disadvantages of VO₂ thin film preparation technologies are introduced in detail, including pulsed laser deposition (PLD), magnetron sputtering, the sol-gel method, and chemical vapour deposition (CVD). In addition, we propose three strategies to improve the performance of VO₂ thin films, including element doping, multi-layer composites, and surface structure. We also discussed the different applications of VO₂ under thermal, electrical, and light stimulation, as well as the development trends and future challenges of VO₂ thin films.