Electrochromic behavior of poly(3,5-bis(4-bromophenyl) dithieno[3,2-b;2 ',3 '-d]thiophene)

Electropolymerization of 3,5-bis(4-bromophenyl)dithieno[3,2-b;2',3'-d]thiophene, having a mild electron-withdrawing bromine atom attached to the para position of the two phenyl groups of dithienothiophene, was performed, utilizing a potentiodynamic method. The resultant homopolymer was characterized by cyclic volyammetry, fourier transform infrared and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. Spectroelectrochemical and electrochromic properties were investigated and a device was constructed with polyethylenedioxythiophene to understand the characteristics in detail, which had the potential range of 0.0-2.0 V for operating the device between green and blue colors. It had a good optical contrast of 18% with a switching time of less than a second. Moreover, open circuit memory and stability of the device were investigated. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.