Employing polyaniline/viologen complementarity to enhance coloration and charge dissipation in multicolor electrochromic display with wide modulation range

Guodong Liu; Zijian Wang; Jianing Wang; Hanbin Liu; Zhijian Li

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.11.001

Employing polyaniline/viologen complementarity to enhance coloration and charge dissipation in multicolor electrochromic display with wide modulation range

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 Feb:655:493-507. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.11.001. Epub 2023 Nov 7.

Authors

Guodong Liu¹, Zijian Wang², Jianing Wang², Hanbin Liu², Zhijian Li²

Affiliations

¹ College of Bioresources Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Light Chemistry Engineering Education, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an 710021, China; Key Laboratory of Functional Printing and Transport Packaging of China National Light Industry, Key Laboratory of Paper-based Functional Materials of China National Light Industry, Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Papermaking Technology and Specialty Paper, China. Electronic address: liuguodong@sust.edu.cn.
² College of Bioresources Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Light Chemistry Engineering Education, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an 710021, China.

PMID: 37976738
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.11.001

Abstract

Multicolor electrochromic devices have gained attention widely. To support the development of multicolor electrochromic devices, we studied complementary combinations of a multicolor switchable polyaniline (PANI) electrode and 1-methyl-4,4'-bipyridyl iodide (MBI). In particular, MBI acting as an electrolyte and cathodic electrochromic layer can not only simplify the architecture of a device, but also support the color richness of the device simultaneously. Wide band optical modulation in visible light (58.1% at 550 nm) and near-infrared light (35% at 800 nm) confirms the advantageous optical properties of the combination, possessing a wide color gamut range over a range of working voltages adjustable for red, yellow, green, blue, and purple, each having a high color contrast of up to 73.8. This is accompanied by the excellent electrochemical performances of the mentioned combination, such as a fast response time of 1 s/1.9 s (modulating 77%-colored/bleached) with good cycle stability, and high coloration efficiency of 140.63 cm²/C. In addition, utilizing a screen-printed polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a masking barrier layer, it is possible to display patterned anti-counterfeit information within the application. Given these electrochromic performance properties, it is considered a readily feasible strategy to utilize PANI and MBI combination to develop novel electrochromic devices, which can be used widely in the areas of smart packaging, smart labels, and flexible smart windows associated with specific application scenarios.

Keywords: Anti-counterfeiting; Electrochromism; Polyaniline; Screen printing; Viologen.