Electrochemical synthesis of copolymers based on 2-(anthracen-9-yl)thiophene: A facile and efficient route to a series of multicolor electrochromic polymers

A monomer named 2-(Anthracen-9-yl)thiophene (An-Th) has been synthesized via Stille coupling reaction, while its homopolymer is difficult to prepare on the conducting electrode via electrochemical methods. However, it can be a good comonomer to obtain copolymers with other monomers such as thiophene (Th), selenophone (SePh), 3-methylthiophene (MeTh) and 3,4-ethylenethiophene (EDOT) via electrochemical copolymerization. The structures of the prepared copolymers are characterized via FTIR and XPS analysis. In addition, the spectroelectrochemical and electrochromic properties of these copolymers are also investigated. The derived copolymers present multicolor electrochromism, which can be tuned by the applied comonomer and polymerization solvent. Moreover, the copolymers have reasonable switching response and stability. All of these indicate that the synthesized Th-An can be applied as a good comonomer for preparation of electrochromic copolymers.