Preparation and Characterization of Intrinsic Porous Polyamides Based on Redox-Active Aromatic Diamines with Pentiptycene Scaffolds.

The electrochromic (EC) polyamides ( and ) from the electroactive pentiptycene-derived triphenylaminediamine monomers ( and ) were designed and prepared via polycondensation. The incorporation of rigid and contorted H-shaped pentiptycene scaffolds could restrain polymer chains from close packing and further form intrinsic microporosity in the polymer matrix which could be confirmed by the measurements of WXRD, BET, and PALS. With the existence of intrinsic microporosity, the diffusion rate of counterions between the electroactive polymer film and electrolyte can be promoted during the electrochemical procedure. Therefore, the prepared polyamide exhibits enhanced EC behaviors, such as lower driving potential (1.11 V), smaller redox potential difference Δ (0.24 V), and shorter switching response time (3.6/5.2 s for coloring/bleaching). Consequently, the formation of intrinsic microporosity can be a useful approach for the enhancement of EC response performance.