Effect of deposition charges on the wettability performance of electrochromic polymers

Abstract

Electrochromic polymers have been designed as future candidates for electrochromic displays (ECDs) and smart windows. This class of conducting polymers has been studied with their several optical properties as well as spectroelectrochemical stabilities. In practical use their contamination and abrasion could be expected to be main problem as exposed to moisture and other possible pollutants. In this study, we present a perspective to well-known electrochromic polymers in the words of their durable use. For this aim, a series of electrochromic polymers are deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass plates by bulk electrolysis. Polymeric films are deposited by varied deposition charges (Qs) ranging from 62 to 620mCcm−2 for comparison. Equilibrium water contact angle (θwaterequ) measurements of the prepared surfaces are measured by Attention Theta Optical Tensiometer. Surface roughness parameters (RMS) are determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique and used for interpretation of hydrophobic–hydrophilic characteristics. The results clearly indicate that; poly(ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) has a hydrophilic surface whose hydrophilicity is increased by applied deposition charge and becomes a superhydrophile at high deposition charges. Among the tested polymers polycarbazole (PCarb) is the most promising long lifetime candidate due to its relatively hydrophobic character. Also, the hydrophobicity of PCarb is linearly increased by increasing deposition charge and reaches an optimum point at a particular condition.