Synthesis and electrochromic properties of aromatic polyetherimides based on a triphenylamine‐dietheramine monomer

ABSTRACT A series of electroactive polyetherimides (PEIs) with triphenylamine (TPA) units were prepared from the polycondensation reactions of 4,4′‐bis( p ‐aminophenoxy)triphenylamine with aromatic tetracarboxylic dianhydrides via a conventional two‐step technique. The PEIs showed high thermal stability, with glass‐transition temperatures of 234–282 °C and decomposition temperatures in excess of 500 °C. They showed well‐defined and reversible redox couples during both p ‐ and n ‐doping processes, together with multielectrochromic behaviors. These polymers exhibited enhanced redox‐stability and electrochromic performance as compared with the corresponding analogs without the phenoxy spacer between the TPA and imide units. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 2925–2938