Poly (Aryl Amino Ketone/Sulfones) with Obvious Electrochromic Effect Prepared by One-Step Low-Cost and Facile Synthesis

High-performance donor-acceptor (D-A) polymers, as an important class of electrochromic (EC) materials, have attracted extensive attention. In this paper, a series of novel poly (aryl amino ketone) (PAAK) and poly (aryl amino sulfone) (PAAS) type high-performance polymers (HPP) with electrochromism were prepared by a simple C-N coupling reaction and were coated on an indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate as EC films. All four polymers were prepared by a nucleophilic substitution reaction using commercially purchased amine monomers with difluoride sulfone/ketone using potassium carbonate as a catalyst. A series of tests were performed to compare and analyze the effects of the different electron-withdrawing abilities of sulfone and carbonyl groups, and the different conjugation lengths of these two TPA structures were connected to the EC properties of the polymer. The different phenyl or biphenyl of the two TPA structures mainly affected the oxidation potential of the polymer, while the sulfone group and the carbonyl group, with a different electron absorption ability, had a greater influence on the energy band and cyclic stability. The optical contrast of PAAS−BT at 850 nm was up to 58% and maintained 450 cycles, indicating that this series of materials had a broad application prospect waiting for further research. In addition to the performance, the raw materials used in this work could be directly and commercially purchased for a low price; the two aniline monomers were priced at about $0.43 /g and $0.15 /g, respectively. This method significantly reduces the cost and provides a new idea for subsequent large-scale production and practical applications.