Thin Solid Films, Vol.527, 232-238, 2013
Electrosynthesis and characterization of a donor-acceptor type electrochromic material from poly(4,7-dicarbazol-9-yl-2,1,3-benzothiadia-zole) and its application in electrochromic devices
A donor-acceptor type monomer 4,7-dicarbazol-9-yl-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (CBTD) was synthesized by modified Ullmann coupling reaction and its corresponding polymer (PCBTD) was obtained via electrochemical polymerization. Characterizations of the resulting polymer PCBTD were performed by cyclic voltammetry, UV-vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The polymer displayed multiple colors changed from yellow to yellowish green, green, and turquoise blue with the applied potential. The UV-vis spectra depicted that polymer film have two absorption bands as expected for this type of donor-acceptor polymer, at 320 and 467 nm, which attributed to the pi-pi* transition and intrachain charge transfer transition, respectively. Further, electrochemical and optical band gapswere obtained by using their oxidation and reduction onset potentials and absorption edges, respectively. The optical contrasts of the PCBTD film were found to be 28.1% at 420 nmand 49.9% at 800 nmin the visible region. The dual type electrochromic device constructed utilizing PCBTD and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) showed a maximum contrast (Delta T %) of 49.4% at 620 nm with response time of 0.6 s and exhibited high coloration efficiency (1728 cm(2) C-1) and good stability. These properties make the polymer a suitable material for electrochromic applications. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Poly(4,7-dicarbazol-9-yl-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole);Conjugated polymer;Donor-acceptor type;Spectroelectrochemistry;Electrochromic device