Non-conjugated triarylamine-based intrinsic microporous polyamides for an electrochromic supercapacitor: diffusion dynamics and charge-discharge studies

To investigate the counter ion diffusivity of polymers with intrinsic microporous structures during the electrochemical process, Troger's base (TB) with a non-planar and V-shaped moiety was introduced to facilitate the formation of diffusion channels. The TB-incorporated polyamides (TPPA-TB and TPPA-Me-TB) revealed enhanced electrochromic properties due to higher diffusivity, which could effectively narrow down the electrochemical redox potential difference (delta E), resulting in a higher switching response speed (upsilon) while maintaining similar transmittance change (delta T). Intriguingly, the triarylamine-based polyamide TPPA-Me-TB demonstrated excellent charge-discharge ability with a high specific capacitance (C-sp) of 165.3 F g(-1) at 1.0 A g(-1) and distinct two-stage color changes from colorless to green (0.8 V) and to blue (1.2 V), which could monitor the content of charge capacity. Therefore, these novel redox-active polyamides should be attractive and suitable for electrochromic supercapacitor (ECS) materials.