Electrochemical and Solvent-Mediated Visible-to-Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Switching of Benzoselenadiazole Fluorophores

The Dual-Role of Benzothiadiazole Fluorophores for Enabling Electrofluorochromic and Electrochromic Devices

Three unsymmetric fluorophores differing in their flanking electron acceptor (-NO2, -CN, -CHO) were investigated for their electrofluorochromism and electrochromism. The emission yield of the -NO2 substituted fluorophore in the solid state was ca. 9-fold less than its -CN and -CHO counterparts. Visible color changes of the fluorophores were observed with an applied potential. The intensity of the near-infrared absorption at ca. 1500 nm formed upon electrochemical oxidation was contingent on the electron-withdrawing group: 2-fold more intense with the -CN substitution than its -H counterpart. The coloration efficiency was upwards of 655 cm2 C-1 and the bleaching kinetics (tb; 22 s) of the NIR band decreased according to -NO2>-CN>- CHO ≈ -H. The electrochemically generated states could be reversibly formed during 120 min of switching the applied potential. The contrast ratio of the radical cation and the NIR absorption was near unity and 60-82 %, respectively. The photoemission intensity of the fluorophores could also be modulated with applied potentials. The collective electrochemically mediated color switching and emission intensity modulation along with their solid-state emission demonstrate that benzothiadiazole fluorophores can play a dual role in chromic devices both as the color switching and photoemission intensity modulating material.

Photolithographic patterning of viologens containing styrene groups

A simple method for the patterning of styrene derivatives for electrochromic applications is presented. Novel viologen derivatives containing styrene groups were used in the formation of patternable electrochromic films. The patterning was done via photopolymerization and it shows the possibility of the use of styrene derivatives for the preparation of electrochromic patterns.

Orange/Red Benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene 1,1,5,5-Tetraoxide-Based Emitters for Luminescent Solar Concentrators: Effect of Structures on Fluorescence Properties and Device Performances

Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) are a class of optical devices able to harvest, downshift, and concentrate sunlight, thanks to the presence of emitting materials embedded in a polymer matrix. Use of LSCs in combination with silicon-based photovoltaic (PV) devices has been proposed as a viable strategy to enhance their ability to harvest diffuse light and facilitate their integration in the built environment. LSC performances can be improved by employing organic fluorophores with strong light absorption in the center of the solar spectrum and intense, red-shifted emission. In this work, we present the design, synthesis, characterization, and application in LSCs of a series of orange/red organic emitters featuring a benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene 1,1,5,5-tetraoxide central core as an acceptor (A) unit. The latter was connected to different donor (D) and acceptor (A') moieties by means of Pd-catalyzed direct arylation reactions, yielding compounds with either symmetric (D-A-D) or non-symmetric (D-A-A') structures. We found that upon light absorption, the compounds attained excited states with a strong intramolecular charge-transfer character, whose evolution was greatly influenced by the nature of the substituents. In general, symmetric structures showed better photophysical properties for the application in LSCs than their non-symmetric counterparts, and using a donor group of moderate strength such as triphenylamine was found preferable. The best LSC built with these compounds presented photonic (external quantum efficiency of 8.4 ± 0.1%) and PV (device efficiency of 0.94 ± 0.06%) performances close to the state-of-the-art, coupled with a sufficient stability in accelerated aging tests.

Survey of Recent Advances in Molecular Fluorophores, Unconjugated Polymers, and Emerging Functional Materials Designed for Electrofluorochromic Use

In this review, recent advances that exploit the intrinsic emission of organic materials for reversibly modulating their intensity with applied potential are surveyed. Key design strategies that have been adopted during the past five years for developing such electrofluorochromic materials are presented, focusing on molecular fluorophores that are coupled with redox-active moieties, intrinsically electroactive molecular fluorophores, and unconjugated emissive organic polymers. The structural effects, main challenges, and strides toward addressing the limitations of emerging fluorescent materials that are electrochemically responsive are surveyed, along with how these can be adapted for their use in electrofluorochromic devices.

Influence of (de)protonation on the photophysical properties of phenol-substituted diazine chromophores: experimental and theoretical studies

In this contribution, a series of seven push–pull systems has been designed by combining a protonable diazine heterocycle with a deprotonable phenol unit through various π-conjugated linkers (phenylene, thienylene, thienylenevinylene, and phenylenevinylene).