Use of ionic liquids for pi-conjugated polymer electrochemical devices.
pi-Conjugated polymers that are electrochemically cycled in ionic liquids have enhanced lifetimes without failure (up to 1 million cycles) and fast cycle switching speeds (100 ms). We report results for electrochemical mechanical actuators, electrochromic windows, and numeric displays made from three types of pi-conjugated polymers: polyaniline, polypyrrole, and polythiophene. Experiments were performed under ambient conditions, yet the polymers showed negligible loss in electroactivity. These performance advantages were obtained by using environmentally stable, room-temperature ionic liquids composed of 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium cations together with anions such as tetrafluoroborate or hexafluorophosphate.
Lu
Wen
W
Santa Fe Science and Technology (SFST), 3216 Richards Lane, Santa Fe, NM 87507, USA.
Fadeev
Andrei G
AG
Qi
Baohua
B
Smela
Elisabeth
E
Mattes
Benjamin R
BR
Ding
Jie
J
Spinks
Geoffrey M
GM
Mazurkiewicz
Jakub
J
Zhou
Dezhi
D
Wallace
Gordon G
GG
MacFarlane
Douglas R
DR
Forsyth
Stewart A
SA
Forsyth
Maria
M