A bis-selenophene substituted alkoxy benzene derivative as a highly stable novel electrochromic polymer

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Up to date there are few studies reporting the use of selenophene derivatives as electrochromic polymers. This report highlights the synthesis of a selenophene containing multi-ring aromatic polymer which possesses reasonable optical contrasts at both visible and near-IR regions. Electrochemical synthesis of a conducting polymer from a multi-ring aromatic monomer, 2-(2,5-bis(hexyloxy)-4-(selenophen-2-yl)phenyl)selenophene (BSB(OC 6H 13) 2), was achieved at a lower potential than its corresponding parent, selenophene. The strong absorption band for the undoped polymer was 474 nm and the onset energy for the π–π * transition (Eg) was 1.9 eV (645 nm). A novel dual-polymer electrochromic device was constructed in sandwich configuration where poly(BSB(OC 6H 13) 2) was used as the anodically coloring material. It is the first electrochromic device where a selenophene-containing polymer was used as an active layer. The device switches between a rose-colored state and a blue-colored state with a fast response time (less than 1 s).