Multicolored, Low-Voltage-Driven, Flexible Organic Electrochromic Devices Based on Oligomers

Zhijun Wan; Jinming Zeng; Hui Li; Ping Liu; Wenji Deng

doi:10.1002/marc.201700886

Multicolored, Low-Voltage-Driven, Flexible Organic Electrochromic Devices Based on Oligomers

Macromol Rapid Commun. 2018 May;39(10):e1700886. doi: 10.1002/marc.201700886. Epub 2018 Apr 20.

Authors

Zhijun Wan¹, Jinming Zeng¹, Hui Li¹, Ping Liu¹, Wenji Deng²

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Research Institute of Materials Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
² Department of Applied Physics, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China.

PMID: 29675832
DOI: 10.1002/marc.201700886

Abstract

In this study, a series of organic conjugated oligomers containing 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) and aromatic groups are synthesized, which are as follows: 2,5-di(methyl benzoate)-3,4-ethylenedioxy-thiophene (1EDOT-2B-COOCH₃ ), 5,5'-di(methyl benzoate)-2,2'-bi(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (2EDOT-2B-COOCH₃ ), 5,5″-di(methyl benzoate)-2,2':5',2″-ter(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (3EDOT-2B-COOCH₃ ), and 5,5″'-di(methyl benzoate)-2,2':5',2″: 5″,2″'-quater(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (4EDOT-2B-COOCH₃ ). Using these oligomers as active materials, flexible organic electrochromic devices are fabricated. The device structure is indium tin oxide-PET plastic slide (ITO-PET)/active layer/conducting gel/ITO-PET, and the electrochromic properties of oligomers are investigated. These oligomers exhibit reversible color changes upon electrochemical doping and dedoping. The highest optical contrast is exhibited by 4EDOT-2B-COOCH₃ , which is 75.2% at 700 nm.

Keywords: 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene; electrochemical dedoping; electrochemical doping; electrochromism; flexible electrochromic devices.

MeSH terms

Electrochemistry / methods*
Polymers / chemistry*
Surface Properties
Thiophenes / chemistry

Substances

3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene
Polymers
Thiophenes