Triazole-based ionene exhibiting tunable structure and ionic conductivity obtained via cycloaddition reaction: A new polyelectrolyte for electrochromic devices

Main-chain poly(ionic liquid)s based on 1,2,3-triazole with pentaoxyethylene spacer was developed via copper-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) of a novel azide/alkyne-terminal monomer and subsequently quaternized by alkyl halides followed by anion exchanges with several fluorinated salts. Introduction of the extended ethylene oxide fragments [–(CH2CH2O)5–] has made this new PIL with methyl substituent and bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide counteranion exhibit ionic conductivity of 1.16 × 10−4 S cm−1 at 30 °C. This new electrolyte efficiently switches an electrochromic device (ECD) with 18% optical contrast from its transparent state to a colored state in 4.75 s and while bleaching takes 11.8 s. The development of this polyelectrolyte with simple structure and excellent physical and thermal properties is promising for the design of new all-solid state energy efficient smart windows and devices and other electrochemical device applications.