Electrochromic Devices with High Stability from Colorless to Green Conversion Based on Viologen Derivatives

Abstract

Two viologen derivatives containing fluorine substituent (F) with an asymmetric structures, 1, 1′-bis(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-[4,4′-bipyridine] dihexafluorophosphate (DFPV) and 1-benzyl-1′-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-[4,4′-bipyridine]di-hexafluorophosphate (Bn-FPV), were synthesized. These viologen derivatives as active materials were used to assemble both flexible and rigid electrochromic devices (ECDs). ECDs based on DFPV exhibited reversible color change from colorless to deep green and ECDs based on Bn-FPV exhibited reversible color change from colorless to blue-green within applied voltage. It was found that the devices based on DFPV showed cycle stability, which could still maintain more than 90% after 1 000 cycles. In addition, the modulation rate of the device to the solar irradiance is also calculated to characterize its application potential in smart windows. Among them, the rigid device (R-DFPV) based on the DFPV has a large solar irradiance modulation rate of 54.66%, which has the potential to be used as smart windows.

Keywords

viologen derivatives / electrochromic material / flexible electrochromic devices rigid electrochromic device / smart windows

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