Red, Green, and Blue Electrochromism in Ambipolar Poly(amine–amide– imide)s Based on Electroactive Tetraphenyl-p-Phenylenediamine Units

ABSTRACT: A series of novel poly(amine–amide–imide)s (PAAIs) based on tetraphenyl-p-phenylenediamine (TPPA) units showing anodically/cathodically electrochromic characteristic with three primary colors [red, green, and blue (RGB)] were prepared from the direct polycondensation of the TPPA-based diamine mono-mer with various aromatic bis(trimellitimide)s. These multicol-ored electrochromic polymers were readily soluble in polar organic solvents and showed excellent thermal stability associ-ated with high glass-transition temperatures (288–314 C) and high-char yield (higher than 60 % at 800 C in nitrogen). The PAAI films revealed electrochemical oxidation and reduction accompa-nied with high contrast of optical transmittance color changes from the pale yellow neutral state to the green/blue oxidized state and red reduced state, respectively. The electrochromic films had high-coloration efficiency (CE 178 and 242 cm2/C at the first and the second stages, respectively), low-switching time, and good redox stability, which still retained a high electroactivity af