Study Of Synthesis And Characterization Of Anthraquinone Aromatic Ethers-and Diazo-derivatives And Their Application To Electrochromic Devices

Electrochromism can be defined as the phenomenon of the electrochromic materials that undergo color reversible change upon oxidation or reduction,which is ensued from changing the potential applied charged..Electrochromic materials are a kind of newly-functional materials which can change people's life style and the way of utilizing energy sources.They can be widely applied to large-area display devices,smart windows and electronic papers.Owing to their plentiful colors,better optical performances,fast color change,low cost,good cycling reversibility,organic electrochromic materials have become a dominant direction in the electrochromic research in recent years.In this paper,forteen target ahthraquinone derivatives,phenoxy substituted anthraquinones,O,O'-di(1/2-anthraquinonyl)bisphenol Aas,2-anthraquinonyldiazoamino-benzenes were synthesized starting from 1-chloroanthraquinone,2-chloroanthraquinone and 2-aminoanthraquinone.These compounds were characterized by 1^H NMR and FT-IR, and they were proved to be consistent with the designed structures.The spectro- and electrochemical properties of these compounds were determined by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry and cyclic voltammetry,respectively.The ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra suggest that substituted groups of different kinds can strongly influence the spectrochemical properties of anthraquinone derivatives.The cyclic voltammograms show that these compounds have two pairs of obvious redox peaks.The peak at about -0.80 V indicates the reduction potential for the transition from R to R^-,while that at about -1.05 V indicates the reduction potential for the transition from R^- to R^2-.These compounds have favorable redox properties.With polyelectrolyte as ionic conduction layer,the simple solid EC devices and the liquid simple EC devices with paper as vector based on these compounds were assembled.Performance experimentals show these anthraquinone derivatives have efficient electrochromic behaviors and they are useful EC materials. When reduced,the device colors of 1-phenoxy substituted anthraquinones shift from saffron yellow to salmon pink,those of 2-phenoxy substituted anthraquinones change from yellow into red while those of 2-anthraquinonyldiazoaminoenzenes switch from orange to claret.Both the simple solid EC devices and the simple liquid EC devices with paper as vector have respective advantages and shortcomings respectively,and they both need further optimization and improvement.Anthraquinone derivatives will be good prospects as electrochromic materials as a result of their advantages in getting raw materials easily and low price.