Abstract
Electrochemical copolymerization of N-methylpyrrole (NMPy) and cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene (CPDT) was performed in acetonitrile containing sodium perchlorate as a supporting electrolyte. Characterization of the resultant copolymer P(CPDT-co-NMPy) was performed by cyclic voltammetry, UV–vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The P(CPDT-co-NMPy) film has distinct electrochromic properties and exhibits four different colors (reddish brown, pale khaki, pale sea green and light blue) under various potentials. The maximum contrast (ΔT%) and response time of the copolymer film at 750 nm were measured as 47.0% and 2.20 s, respectively. An electrochromic device (ECD) based on P(CPDT-co-NMPy) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) was constructed and characterized. The optical contrast (ΔT%) at 630 nm was found to be 40.2%, and the response time was measured as 1.77 s. The coloration efficiency of the device was calculated to be 476 cm2 per C at 630 nm. The ECD also has satisfactory optical memories and redox stability.
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Acknowledgements
The work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (20906043), the Promotive research fund for young and middle-aged scientists of Shandong Province (2009BSB01453), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong province (ZR2010BQ009), the Open Foundation of the State key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices (KFJJ201114) and the Taishan Scholarship of Shandong Province.
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Fu, Y., Cheng, X., Zhao, J. et al. Electrosynthesis and characterization of a novel electrochromic copolymer of N-methylpyrrole with cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene. Polym J 44, 1048–1055 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/pj.2012.54
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/pj.2012.54
