Herein we present a simple and elegant method for the creation of solid-state conjugated polymer devices. Their electrochromic properties were fully explored in this study, but one could envision the extension of this method to displays, solar cells, OLEDs, transistors, or many other applications. We prepared conductive polymer composites or blends within a polymer electrolyte using electrochemical polymerization of these monomers inside an assembled solid-state device. This method will work for any monomer that can be dissolved in the gel electrolyte. This technique offers simplicity in device construction, is easily adapted to patterned systems and comprises a low-waste assembly process. Our novel approach of assembling polymer electrochromic devices avoids the tedious cleaning process of the substrates, produces almost no waste, and by inkjetting insulating materials to mask the substrates, letters and high-resolution images could be achieved inside the converted polymer devices. Electrochromic devices utilizing PEDOT assembled by our method showed compatible switching speed and durability with a slightly higher contrast ratio.
Ion storage layers have been employed in the construction of electrochromic devices to enhance device lifetimes through balanced ion shuttling. This has led to a search for a material which has a high charge capacity as well as optical transparency. Poly(thieno[3,thiophene) (PT34bT) exhibits high transparency in the visible region in both its neutral and oxidized states, in addition to having a high charge capacity, making it an ideal candidate for an ion storage layer. Herein we report devices fabricated by electrodeposition of several common chromophores, such as PEDOT, PDiBz-ProDOT, and PProDOT-Me 2 . Devices were made with and without a balanced layer of PT34bT on the counter electrode and were probed for coloration and contrast. It was found that the addition of the ion storage layer did not alter the color of any of the devices and resulted in a minimal, predicted loss of contrast corresponding to the thickness of the ion storage layer.
Soluble precursor polymers are processed and assembled into solid‐state devices and subsequently converted in the devices to conjugated electrochromic materials. This method, termed in situ conversion, requires no rigorous cleaning step for the electrode substrate. It eliminates the use of a costly electrolyte bath during the assembly process. This methodology results in high yields for the resultant conjugated system.
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