Enhancing the electrochromic characteristics of conjugated polymer with TiO2 nano‐rods

Organic soluble, oleic acid capped TiO₂ nano‐rod was well‐mixed with the electrochromic polymer: Poly‐(4,4‐dioctylcyclopenta2,1‐b:3,4‐b′]‐dithiophene (PDOCPDT) to form TiO₂/PDOCPDT nanocompsoite. TiO₂/PDOCPDT film showed high electrochemical stability and its coloration efficiency is 1.5 times of that for pure PDOCPDT. The function of TiO₂ nano‐rods can be regarded as a dispersion agent. PDOCPDT chains in TiO₂/PDOCPDT may have a less aggregated structure and more open morphology, therefore has higher coloration efficiency. TiO₂ may also act as electron transport or temporary electron storage centers, electrons can be transferred reversibly between PDOCPDT and TiO₂ nano‐rods. TiO₂/PDOCPDT is well‐soluble in CHCl₃, large area thin films can be fabricated reproducibly simply by spin coating. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 1121–1130, 2008