Facile preparation of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate)/graphene oxide nanocomposite for electrochromic applications

Abstract

An aqueous electrochromic composite poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate)/graphene oxide was prepared in this study by a simple one-step in-situ polymerization. This simple one-step preparation method allowed the composite to achieve good performance without post-treatment. When the composite was coated on the indium tin oxide using as electrochromic film, it exhibited a noticeable electrochromism with reversible color changes from light blue to dark blue, and showed a wider range of discoloration (33%). The composite owns a larger diffusion coefficient of lithium ions (2.95 × 10 –15 cm 2 s –1 ) and better cycling performance compared with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) film.