Highly stable electrochromism and electrofluorochromism derived from a bi-functional polyamide containing conjugated bis(diphenylamine-spirodifluorene) moieties

A polyamide containing bis(diphenylamine-spirodifluorene) moieties was designed and synthesized. Owing to the stable electroactive amine center of conjugated system and loose interchain packing of twisted double triphenylamine-fluorophore moieties, the resulting polyamide revealed good overall properties, especially ultra-high cycle stability (less than 11.0% of fluorescence contrast loss after 800 cycles), as well as rapid switching speed (2.9/1.8 s) and high fluorescence/color contrast (111/69.2%). The study will promote their practical applications in the near future. • A novel fluorescent/electroactive polyamide was designed and fabricated. • The polyamide possessed ultra-high cycle stability (less than 11.0% of fluorescence contrast loss after 800 cycles). • The polyamide showed rapid switching speed (2.9/1.8 s) and high fluorescence/color contrast (111/69.2%). • The behaviors of the new polyamide will deepen the understanding of structure-property relationships.