Improvement of optical properties and redox stability of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)

In order to improve the optical properties and redox stability of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) without changing its electrochemical and electrochromic behaviour, it was supported with alkyl-substituted polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) cage. The corresponding copolymers were obtained electrochemically via potentiostatic or potentiodynamic methods and compared to the parent homopolymers. Electrochemical polymerization of EDOT and POSS containing EDOT called EDOT-POSS in various monomer feed ratios was performed in an electrolyte solution of 0.1 M TBAPF6 dissolved in a mixture of dichloromethane and acetonitrile (1/3: v/v). Just as PEDOT, the copolymers represented the similar band gap (1.61 eV), redox and electrochromic behaviors. On the other hand, when compared to the parent PEDOT, the presence of POSS cages in the copolymer backbone improved the redox stability and optical properties of PEDOT such as higher percent transmittance change (65% at 621 nm), higher transparency at oxidized state, lower switching time (∼1.0 s) and higher coloration efficiency (463 cm2/C for 95% switching) as well as higher electrochemical stability (86% of its electroactivity retains after 1750 cycles under ambient conditions).