Xiuping Ju

The optimization of donor-to-acceptor feed ratios with the aim of obtaining black-to-transmissive switching polymers based on isoindigo as the electron-deficient moiety

Isoindigo (iI)-containing donor (D)–acceptor (A)-type polymers have rarely been used as electrochromic materials although their applications in the field of organic photoelectric devices have achieved significant progress in only a few years. Three conjugated polymers, namely, P1–P3, were synthesized via the random copolymerization of three units, including thiophene and 3,3-bis-decyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-thieno[3,4-b][1,4]dioxepine (ProDOT-decyl2) as the D units, and alkyl-substituted isoindigo as the A unit, and the reactions were conducted by the Stille polymerization method. The results showed that the feed ratio of the D units to the A unit had a substantial effect on the electrochemical properties, optical band gap, color presentation, and electrochromic parameters (changes in transmittance, response time, coloration efficiency and persistence of optical contrasts for a long period) of the conjugated polymers. Polymers were easily obtained with the feed ratios (thiophene:iI:ProDOT) of 2:1:1, 4:1:3, and 5:1:4 for P1, P2 and P3, respectively. P1 exhibits a cyan color in the neutral state and a transmissive grey color in the oxidized state. Both P2 and P3 display a change from black to transmissive on conversion from the neutral to the oxidized state. An increase in the ProDOT content was helpful for enabling the extension of the absorption peak of the polymers across the entire spectrum and also improving the switching property of the polymers. In general, the introduction of iI as the A unit for the construction of D–A-type polymers provides the field of electrochromic devices with verifiable performance and deserves further investigation to obtain more promising electrochromic materials.

The Availability of Neutral Cyan, Green, Blue and Purple Colors from Simple D–A Type Polymers with Commercially Available Thiophene Derivatives as the Donor Units

In this paper, the Stille coupling reaction was used to prepare four donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) type monomers. For this purpose, 2,3-bis(4-methoxyphenyl) quinoxaline was used as the acceptor unit, and thiophene derivatives (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene, or EDOT; 3-methoxythiophene, or MOTh; 3-methylthiophene, or MTh; and thiophene, or Th) were used as the donor units. The monomers were polymerized to the corresponding polymers by the cyclic voltammetry (CV) or potentiostatic method. The band gaps and the adsorption profiles of the polymers were finely tuned with the incorporation of the different thiophene units. All four polymers have low band gaps, and switched between the colored neutral states and the highly transmissive oxidized state. We were successfully able to obtain the valuable neutral colors of cyan, green, blue, and violet for the polymers employing EDOT, MOTh, MTh, and Th as the donor unit, respectively. Furthermore, electrochromic kinetic investigations showed that all four polymers displayed excellent optical contrasts (ΔT%), fast switching times, high coloration efficiencies, and robust stabilities, indicating that these four polymers are probably promising choices for developing electrochromic devices.

Soluble Electrochromic Polymers Incorporating Benzoselenadiazole and Electron Donor Units (Carbazole or Fluorene): Synthesis and Electronic-Optical Properties

A series of π-conjugated polymers containing alternating benzoselenadiazole (BSe)-bi(thiophene derivative)-carbazole or benzoththiadiazole (BSe)-bi(thiophene derivative)-fluorene units were designed and synthesized. Thiophene derivatives, namely 3-hexylthiophene, 3,4-bihexyloxythiophene, and 3,4-bioctyloxythiophene, were used as the π-bridges of the polymers. The polymers were characterized in detail in terms of their thermal stabilities, cyclic voltammograms, UV-Vis absorption, spectroelectrochemistry, dynamic switching property and so forth. The alkoxy thiophene π-bridged polymers have lower onset oxidation potentials and bandgaps than that of their corresponding alkyl thiophene π-bridged polymers. The selection of the donor units between the carbazole and the fluorene units has nearly no effect on the bandgaps and colors as well as the onset oxidation potentials of the polymers. The increase in the length of the side alkyl chains on the thiophene ring caused a slight increase in the polymer bandgap, which may be caused by the space hindrance effect. The dynamic switching abilities of the polymers were obtained by the chronoabsorptometry method, and the results also suggested that the alkoxy thiophene-containing polymers (as π-bridges) have higher contrast ratios than the corresponding alkyl thiophene-containing polymers. Furthermore, the increase in the length of the side alkyl chain might have a detrimental effect on the optical contrast ratios of the polymers.

Effects of Fluoro Substitution on the Electrochromic Performance of Alternating Benzotriazole and Benzothiadiazole-Based Donor–Acceptor Type Copolymers

Two new donor–acceptor type electrochromic copolymers containing non-fluorinated and di-fluorinated benzothiadiazole analogues, namely P(TBT-TBTh) and P(TBT-F-TBTh), were synthesized successfully through chemical polymerization. Both polymers were measured by cyclic voltammetry, UV-vis spectroscopy, colorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis to study the influence of fluoro substitution on the electrochromic performance. The results demonstrated that the two polymer films displayed well-defined redox peaks in pairs during the p-type doping, and showed distinct color change from dark gray blue to light green for P(TBT-TBTh) with the band gap of 1.51 eV, and from gray blue to celandine green for P(TBT-F-TBTh) with the band gap of 1.58 eV. P(TBT-F-TBTh) presented lower highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels, and better stability than P(TBT-TBTh). It was found that the two fluorine atoms participated in not only inductive effects but also mesomeric effects in the P(TBT-F-TBTh) backbone. In addition, the polymers exhibited high optical contrasts, short response time, and favorable coloration efficiency, especially in the near infrared region. The characterization results indicated that the two reported polymers can be the potential choice as electrochromic materials.

Synthesis and characterization of novel donor–acceptor type neutral green electrochromic polymers containing an indolo[3,2-b]carbazole donor and diketopyrrolopyrrole acceptor

Indolocarbazole bearing donor–acceptor type polymers have rarely been reported in the electrochromic field despite them having considerable development in the applications of organic photoelectric devices. In this paper, two novel soluble electrochromic polymers, namely PDTCZ-1 and PDTCZ-2, were prepared by chemical polymerization including indolo[3,2-b]carbazole (IC) units as the donor, diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) units as the acceptor and bithiophene units as the bridging group. Through diverse characterization techniques such as cyclic voltammetry (CV), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-vis spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), it was found that PDTCZ-1 and PDTCZ-2 exhibited saturated green in the neutral state and pale green in the oxidized state with optical band gaps of 1.44 eV and 1.39 eV, respectively, as well as demonstrating fast switching speed, satisfactory coloration efficiency and favorable thermal stability. In addition, the proportion of donors to acceptors definitely exerted an influence on the electrochromic properties of the polymers. As the thiophene/IC/DPP ratio changed from 4/3/1 (PDTCZ-1) to 5/4/1 (PDTCZ-2), meaning an increase of the donor ratio, the polymer showed a reduced onset oxidation potential, decreased optical band gap and different dynamic parameters. The positive results suggest that PDTCZ-1 and PDTCZ-2 could be promising candidates as neutral green electrochromic materials and deserve more attention and penetrating research.

Synthesis and characterization of novel donor–acceptor type electrochromic polymers containing diketopyrrolopyrrole as an acceptor and propylenedioxythiophene or indacenodithiophene as a donor

A range of low band gap donor–acceptor conjugated polymers (P1–P3) with backbones composed of diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP), propylenedioxythiophene (ProDOT) and indacenodithiophene (IDT) units were designed and synthesized using the Stille coupling reaction. The optical, electrochemical and electrochromic properties of the resultant polymers were thoroughly characterized. These polymers showed exceptional solubility in common organic solvents and displayed thermal stability at a high temperature. The optical and electrochemical measurements revealed slight variations in the maximum absorptions and oxidation peaks depending on the intrinsic D–A ratio in each polymer, and narrow band gaps lower than 1.60 eV were found for these polymers. Upon oxidation, the polymer films exhibit distinct color changes (pale violet-red to dark gray for P1, rosy brown to silver for P2, atrovirens to light grey for P3) in the VIS and NIR regions. Moreover, the electrochromic switching studies indicated that these polymers have favorable switching properties, such as rapid response speed and high optical contrast and coloration efficiency, and are outstanding candidates for electrochromic applications.

Crystal structure of (2,2′(cyclohexane-1,2-diylbis(nitrilo(E)methylylidene))diphenolato-κ4O,O′,N,N′)dimethanolmanganese(III) bromide, C22H28BrMnN2O4

Abstract C22H28BrMnN2O4, monoclinic, P21/n (no. 14), a = 8.0695(3) Å, b = 14.5673(5) Å, c = 19.1743(6) Å, β = 99.692(3)°, V = 2221.78(13) Å3, Z = 4, Rgt(F) = 0.0413, wRref(F2) = 0.0929, T = 293(2) K.