High-Performance Electrochromic Covalent Hybrid Framework Membranes via a Facile One-Pot Synthesis

Abstract

Porous framework materials have sparked enormous interest in the electrochromic field, as they possess intrinsic high porosity and a large surface area that are beneficial for electron and ion transport. However, the fabrication of these porous framework materials often requires multiple processing steps or harsh reaction conditions, which significantly limit large-scale fabrication of such materials. In this work, we report a one-pot in situ polycondensation method to construct electrochromic covalent hybrid framework membranes via nucleophilic substitutions between hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene (HCCP) and triphenylamine (TPA) in an ambient environment. With the high transparency of polyphosphazene in a wide optical range, the constructed phosphazene-triphenylamine (PPTA) covalent hybrid framework membranes can be reversibly switched between light gray and dark blue, with a high transmittance change of up to 79.8%@668 nm and fast switching time (<4 s). Owing to the easy one-pot fabrication and good electrochromic properties, the PPTA covalent hybrid framework membrane has great potential in various fields such as displays and dynamic optical windows.