Issue 20, 2024

Viologen-based solution-processable ionic porous polymers for electrochromic applications

Abstract

Electrochromic porous thin films are promising for applications in smart windows and energy-efficient optical displays. However, their generally poor processing ability and excessive processing times remain grand challenges. Herein, we report the design and convenient synthesis of core-altered N-arylated viologens with aldehyde groups (πV-CHO) as new building blocks to prepare soluble, viologen-embedded ionic porous polymers. We also demonstrate that these polymers can be easily solution-processed by drop-coating to fabricate high-quality electrochromic films with tunable optoelectronic properties in a cost-effective fashion. The prepared films exhibit excellent electrochromic performance, including a low driving voltage (1.2–1.4 V), fast switching times (0.8–1.7 s), great coloration efficiency (73–268 cm2 C−1), remarkably high optical contrast up to 95.6%, long cycling stability, and tunable oxidation and reduction colors. This work sheds important light on a new molecular engineering approach to produce redox-active polymers with combined properties of intrinsic porosity, reversible and tunable redox activity, and solution processability. This provides the materials with an inherently broad utility in a variety of electrochemical devices for energy storage, sensors, and electronic applications.

Graphical abstract: Viologen-based solution-processable ionic porous polymers for electrochromic applications

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Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
28 Feb 2024
Accepted
07 Apr 2024
First published
23 Apr 2024
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2024,15, 7576-7585

Viologen-based solution-processable ionic porous polymers for electrochromic applications

H. Miao, L. Chen, F. Xing, H. Li, T. Baumgartner and X. He, Chem. Sci., 2024, 15, 7576 DOI: 10.1039/D4SC01408A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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