Aggregation-Induced Emission of Z-2, 3-bis(4-(thiophen-3-yl)-phenyl)-acrylonitrile and Electrochromic Properties of its Copolymer with 3, 4-Ethylenedioxythiophene

In this study, a novel material, Z-2, 3-bis(4-(thiophen-3-yl)-phenyl) –acrylonitrile (Z-TPA), was synthesized and characterized. Optical and electrochromic properties of its homopolymer and copolymer with 3, 4-Ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) were investigated in details. UV–vis absorption and fluorescence spectra showed that this material possessed the properties of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) due to the introduction of acrylonitrile, which could show sky-blue emitting at the aggregation state and almost no emitting at the solution state. Both its polymer and copolymer displayed better redox activity. Spectroelectrochemical analysis displayed that the copolymer film exhibited multicolor showing, with a claret red in the fully reduced form and a blue-green color in the fully oxidized. Spectrochronoamperometry data revealed that the copolymer films had fast switching time and high chromatic contrast as compared to the homopolymer P(Z-TPA). What's more, the copolymer film was used to construct a dual type polymer electrochromic device (ECDs) with PEDOT. The performance of ECDs were also investigated.