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Solvothermal Synthesis and Growth of Covalent Organic Framework Electrochromic Film with Triphenylamine Active Unit

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Abstract

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with reversible redox units and a conjugated molecular skeleton possess novel photoelectrochemical properties. In this work, tris(4-aminophenyl)amine and 4,4-biphenyldiformaldehyde were chosen to synthesize TABP-COF electrochromic film with triphenylamine (TPA) active unit by a solvothermal method in a Teflon-lined reactor. The growth process and reaction time optimization of the TABP-COF were studied. TABP-COF shows a self-assembly growth process from an array of nanosheets to nanospheres. Owing to the redox characteristics of TPA, the TABP-COF film exhibits reversible electrochromic behavior. With a solvothermal reaction time of 72 h, the TABP-COF-3 film exhibits the best electrochromic properties, including contrast of 0.483 and response time of 7.3 s/13.6 s. Considering the abundance of redox-active units that can be chosen, COF materials with different redox units and color changes can be designed for a variety of applications in the field of electrochromic materials.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52073227) and Shaanxi Province Technological Innovation Guidance Special (2021QFY04-01) and for technical support provided by the Analytical Instrumentation Center of XUST.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, 710054, People’s Republic of China

    Shanxin Xiong, Yukun Zhang, Wei Zhang, Nana Yang, Fengyan Lv, Jingru Guo, Xin Cui, Ke Fang, Min Chen, Chenxu Wang, Chunxia Hua, Runlan Zhang & Jia Chu

  2. Key Laboratory of Coal Resources Exploration and Comprehensive Utilization, Ministry of Land and Resources, Xi’an, 710021, People’s Republic of China

    Shanxin Xiong

  3. Institute of Sustainability for Chemicals, Energy and Environment, Singapore, 138634, Singapore

    Jianwei Xu

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  1. Shanxin Xiong
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Xiong, S., Zhang, Y., Zhang, W. et al. Solvothermal Synthesis and Growth of Covalent Organic Framework Electrochromic Film with Triphenylamine Active Unit. J. Electron. Mater. 53, 2656–2665 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-024-10937-w

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