Electrochromic and non-volatile bistable resistive switching behaviour of acid-doped poly(triphenylamine ether)s

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the electrochromic (EC) properties of poly(triphenylamine alkyl ether) and poly(triphenylamine aryl ether) in two different electrolyte solution to study the resistive switching behaviour of acid-doped poly(triphenylamine alkyl ether).Design/methodology_appachBy Buchwald–Hartwig coupling reaction, two novel poly[N-p-phenoxy-N-[4-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethoxy]triphenylamineandpoly[N,N-bis(4-phenoxy)]triphenylamine were synthesized from 4-phenoxyaniline and two dibromo aromatic compounds, 1,2-bis[β,β′-(p-bromophenoxy)ethoxy]ethane and bis(4-bromophenyl) ether.FindingsPoly(triphenylamine alkyl ether) displayed excellent EC characteristics, with a coloration change from a colourless neutral state to light blue and red oxidized states, while poly(triphenylamine aryl ether) showed coloration a change from a colourless neutral state to light blue oxidized state in tetrabutylammonium perchlorate electrolyte solution. Moreover, p-toluenesulfonic acid-doped poly(triphenylamine alkyl ether) exhibited a non-volatile bistable resistive switching behaviour with a high high-conductivity/low-conductivity ratio of up to 104, long retention time exceeding 2.5 × 103 s and the switching threshold voltage was also lower than −2V.Research limitations/implicationsIn this paper, the non-volatile bistable resistive switching behaviour of acid-dopedpoly(triphenylamine alkyl ether) was in accordance with the molar ratio of 1:1. The effects of different molar ratios remained to be studied.Practical implicationsPoly(triphenylamine ether)s may find optoelectronic applications as new EC and resistive switching materials.Originality/valueThe effects of alkyl and aryl ether structures in the main chain on the EC and resistive switching behaviour of triphenylamine unit have not yet been reported.