•A new series of soluble polyamides (PAs) derived from 4,4’-diamino-4”-(quinolin-8-yloxy) triphenylamine (DAQTPA) were synthesized.•DAQTPA and PAs performed the most strongly responsive to Cu2+, which were completely different from the response of other metal ions.•These electrochromic PAs exhibited good thermal stability and solubility.A new series of soluble electrochromic polyamides (PAs) were synthesized from the reaction of 4,4’-diamino-4”-(quinolin-8-yloxy) triphenylamine (DAQTPA) with five dicarboxylic acid via direct polycondensation process, respectively. These amorphous materials showed the decomposition temperature at 5% weight loss was over 400 °C in N2 atmosphere. The influence of aliphatic structure for spectroscopic properties of PA was measured by UV–vis and fluorescent (PL) spectroscopies and explained by the theory of the frontier molecular orbitals. It can be easily determined that DAQTPA performs the most strongly responsive to Cu2+ with obvious enhancement in UV–vis and quenching in PL profiles, which are completely different from the response of other metal ions. PAs also showed the exclusively selective response for Cu2+ in UV–vis spectra. A pair of obvious redox peaks was observed in the cyclic voltammetry (CV) test of PAs accompanied with the distinct color changed from original yellowish to green or blue. The PA bearing the pendent quinolin-8-yloxy performed as an electron-donating group was more stable in the electrochemical process.

A novel series of triphenylamine (TPA)-contained polysiloxanes (PTPASi) have been synthesized by a normal reaction of hydrosilylation through poly(methylhydrosiloxane)(PMHS) with four TPA-based alkenes (TPAA) for electrochromic applications. Grafting TPA onto polysiloxanes was employed as a strategy to ameliorate the thermal stability and cycle stability of the electrochromic properties due to the enhanced force of adhesion between the polymer films and the ITO substrate. The morphology and impedance of the polymers after electro-oxidizing reaction was studied and didn’t reveal significant change suggesting good stability of the hybrid system. Meanwhile, with the introducing of the polysiloxane backbones, the four polymer films appeared nearly colorless in their natural state, in contrast to three primary colors of red, green and blue in their oxidized state. Hence, these PMHS films can be mixed to obtain all the other colors on the basis of the color mixing theory. In addition, the potential switching properties of the four polymers at the temperature of 150 °C have been investigated for the first time, which indicate high thermal stability and potential for relatively high temperature and/or long term cycling applications.

A series of polymers, consisting both 2, 5-dithienylpyrrole (DTP) and different triarylamine units were synthesized by electrochemical oxidative polymerization. The structures of the monomers, including N-(4-(2,5-di(thiophen-2- yl) −1H-pyrrol-1-yl)phenyl)-N-Phenyl Naphthalene-2-amine (DTP-PNA), 4-(2,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)-1H-pyrrol-1-yl)-N,N-diphenylaniline (DTP-DPA), 4-(tert-butyl)-N-(4-(tert-butyl)phenyl)-N-(4-(2,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)-1H −pyrrol-1-yl)phenyl) aniline (DTP-TBPA), 4-(2,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)-1H-pyrrol-1-yl)-N-(4-(2,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)-1H-pyrrol-1-yl)phenyl)-N-(p-tolyl)aniline (DTP-PTA-DTP), and N-(4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)phenyl)-4-(2,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)-1H-pyrrol-1-yl)-N-(4-(2,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)-1H-pyrrol-1-yl)phenyl)aniline (DTP-CPA-DTP) were elucidated by FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, Mass spectra (MS) and the performance and morphology of resulting polymers (P(DTP-PNA), P(DTP-DPA), P(DTP-TBPA), P(DTP-PTA-DTP), and P(DTP-CPA-DTP)) were determined by cyclic voltammetry (CV), ultra-visible-near infrared (UV–Vis–NIR) spectrophotometer, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The polymers exhibit good reversible multicolor in the visible and NIR region (original yellowish to dusty blue until violet occurred), with better coloration efficiency (CE), fast response time.

Five Schiff bases (SBs) containing pyrrole and different triphenylamine (TPA) moieties were synthesized and the structures were confirmed by infrared spectroscopy (IR) and the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. SB1 exhibited intense fluorescence emission in contrast to SB2–SB5. The electrochemical behaviors of the SBs were investigated by the cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique. SB2–SB5 exhibited redox stability with one well-defined and reversible redox couple upon electrochemical oxidation. On the contrary, SB1 revealed two oxidation peaks and one reduction peak in the first CV curve, followed by four well-defined redox couples in the steady-state CV curves. Electrochromic behaviors of the SBs have been observed, accompanied with a new absorption peak appearing with obvious color change from pale yellow neutral form to red oxidation form. SB1–SB5 also displayed sensitive acidochromic behaviors, and a linear dependence of maximum absorption wavelength as a function of pH values has been observed which proved the SBs could be used as alternative pH sensors in the given range.

Novel multifunctional polyazomethines containing triphenylamine structure in the main chain have been prepared via polycondensation of 4,4′-diformyltriphenylamine with aromatic diamines, which were characterized by elemental analysis, 1H NMR, TG, DSC, and XRD techniques. The polymers with the decomposition temperatures of about 450 °C were heat resistant and amorphous. The UV–visible and PL spectra of polyazomethines were dependent on the diamines structures. The polyazomethines emit blue–green light at about 470 nm in pristine state and emit reddish orange at about 590 nm due to being doped with electrooxidation, acid or UV irradiation, respectively. The doped polyazomethines can go back pristine state under NH3 vapor. The results suggest that the polyazomethines can be used as molecular switches, sensors or emitting dyes. The morphologies were investigated by AFM to be different appearance due to the natural structures of macromolecules and the convolution of self-assemblies during vaporization of solvent.Novel multifunctional polyazomethines containing triphenylamine structure in the main chain have been prepared via polycondensation of 4,4′-diformyltriphenylamine with aromatic diamines. The UV–visible spectra and PL spectra of polyazomethines obtained were dependent on the diamines structures. The polyazomethines emit blue–green light at about 470 nm in pristine state and reddish orange at about 590 nm due to be doped with reduction, acid or UV irradiation, respectively. And the doped polyazomethines can go back pristine state under NH3 vapor. The results suggest that the polyazomethines can be used as molecular switches, sensors or emitting dyes. The acidichromism, photochromism, conformation, molecular formula of polyazomethine containing triphenylamine and fluorene blocks (left: PL; right: without UV irradiation).