Electrochromic materials that exhibit the necessary colors for RGB and CMY replication have been sought after by the display industry for the fabrication of lower-power, thinner, and less complex displays. Traditional polymeric electrochromic device fabrication processes involve electrochemical polymerization of monomers from an electrolyte bath, which requires rigorous cleaning of the electrode surface and results in the need for disposal of a large volume of leftover electrolyte solution. Herein, we present a simple, one�step procedure to make solid state polymeric devices, that we call as in situ monomer approach. This technique eliminates the solution step in device preparation, decreases device assembly time, enables open atmosphere fabrication, generates less waste, and is amenable to high volume manufacturing by direct conversion of monomers inside a cross�linked solid polyelectrolyte matrix after device construction. A variety of thiophene�based monomers, such as 3,4�ethylenedioxythiophene, 2,2 disubstituted 3,4�propylenedioxythiophenes, and 1,3 disubstituted 3,4�propylenedioxythiophenes were demonstrated to be viable electroactive species for in situ polymerization, which greatly expands the choice of materials with desired colors for different applications. In addition, complex patterns with high resolution can be easily formed on relatively large area substrates.

Simple, one�step procedure to make conductive polymers for solid state electrochromic devices

247th National Meeting (2014)

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