title: Use of ionic liquids for pi-conjugated polymer electrochemical devices.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Santa Fe Science and Technology (SFST), 3216 Richards Lane, Santa Fe, NM 87507, USA.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Andrei G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Fadeev
authors.forename: Baohua
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Smela
authors.forename: Benjamin R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Mattes
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Geoffrey M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Spinks
authors.forename: Jakub
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mazurkiewicz
authors.forename: Dezhi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Gordon G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: Douglas R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: MacFarlane
authors.forename: Stewart A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Forsyth
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Forsyth