Preparation and characterization, stable bismaleimide-triarylamine polymers with reversible electrochromic properties

•It is a simple approach to obtain polyimides by Michael addition reaction.•The prepolymers had excellent solubility in many common organic solvents.•The polyimides film revealed good thermal stabilities and electrochromic characteristics.

A series of novel polyimides were synthesized from bismaleimide containing different diaminetriarylamines by Michael addition reaction. The prepolymer is readily soluble in many common organic solvents, such as CHCl3, Tetrahydrofuran (THF) and N, N-dimethyl formamide (DMF). Prepolymers can be solution-cast into transparent, tough, and flexible films. These aromatic polyimides display good thermal stabilities, i.e. 5% weight-loss temperatures in excess of 200 °C under nitrogen. All obtained polyimides revealed excellent stability of electrochromic characteristics, changing color from original yellowish to green. The energies of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels of the investigated the polymers were estimated by experimental method are in the range of −4.78 eV to −4.98 eV and −1.64 eV to −2.09 eV vs the vacuum level, respectively. All the polymer films reveal good electrochemical and electrochromic stability under repeatedly switching electrode voltages, with coloration change from the yellow neutral state to green oxidized state.

Graphical abstractAbsorption spectral change of polyimide in CH3CN solution containing 0.1 mol/L LiClO4 at various applied potentials between 0.0 and 1.8 V vs Ag/AgCl.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide