Electrochemically Generated Thin Films of Microporous Polymer Networks: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications

Abstract

Electrochemical oxidative polymerization of rigid, multifunctional monomers allows for the synthesis of microporous thin films with high surface areas. Multifunctional, carbazole‐ and thiophene‐based rigid monomers have been utilized as rigid 3D building blocks (tectons) toward microporous polymer films with relatively smooth surface morphology. Within the last four years, several studies following this approach have been published that report interesting results on the application of these electrogenerated films in organic electronics, photoluminescence‐based or electrochemical chemodetectors, electrochemical supercapacitors, and light‐harvesting antennae for exciton pumping. In this work, the synthetic approaches for the electrochemical polymerization of multifunctional carbazole‐ and thiophene‐based tectons as well as resulting properties and application possibilities of the electrogenerated microporous polymer films are reviewed. image