A. Al Ahmad, M. Wałęsa-Chorab, M. Lo, J. Pankratz, W. Skene

Département de chimie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Organic electrochromic materials are typically conjugated chromophores. By tailoring the electron richness of the aromatics used for preparing the electrochromes, the color of both the neutral and redox states can be adjusted. Given the aromatics are coupled by irreversible bonds, the color and redox properties of the electrochromes must be rationally designed by choosing the appropriate aromatic reagents. The materials’ properties therefore cannot be modified once they have been prepared. However, property modification would be possible by incorporating bonds into the electrochrome that can be reversibly formed. Towards this end, an electroactive surface coating capable of forming reversible bonds was prepared. The properties of the coating, including redox potentials, color, and emission could be changed by undergoing reversible reactions with various aromatics. It will be shown that the coating can be used in electrochromics and the color of the electrochromic film can be reversibly modified by reversible reactions.