Soluble alkyl substituted poly(3,4‐propylenedioxyselenophene)s: A new platform for optoelectronic materials

Abstract

Abstract Optical and electrochemical properties of regiosymmetric and soluble alkylenedioxyselenophene‐based electrochromic polymers, namely poly(3,3‐dibutyl‐3,4‐dihydro‐2H‐selenopheno[3,4‐b][1,4]dioxephine) (PProDOS‐C 4 ), poly(3,3‐dihexyl‐3,4‐dihydro‐2H‐selenopheno[3,4‐b][1,4]dioxephine) (PProDOS‐C 6 ), and poly(3,3‐didecyl‐3,4‐dihydro‐2H‐selenopheno[3,4‐b][1,4]dioxephine) (PProDOS‐C 10 ), are highlighted. It is noted that these unique polymers have low bandgaps (1.57–1.65 eV), and they are exceptionally stable under ambient atmospheric conditions. Polymer films retained 82–97% of their electroactivity after 5000 cycles. The percent transmittance of PProDOS‐C n ( n = 4, 6, 10) films found to be between 55 and 59%. Furthermore, these novel soluble PProDOS‐C n polymers showed electrochromic behavior: a color change form pure blue to highly transparent state in a low switching time (1.0 s) during oxidation with high coloration efficiencies (328–864 cm 2 C −1 ) when compared to their thiophene analogues. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011