Viologens and Their Application as Functional Materials

Organic materials have recently gained considerable attention for electronic applications, improving performance and sustainability to current technologies. Commercialized metal-based systems are generally expensive, toxic and difficult to recycle, however organic materials offer promising solutions. Viologens, N,N' di-quaternized bipyridyl salts, are a well-studied species exhibiting three reversible redox states, possessing valuable electrochromic and electron-accepting properties. These properties can be fine-tuned through synthesis by altering the nitrogen substituents and various counteranions. Currently, viologens have become of great interest as functional materials in a wide array of applications; a few to name include electrochromic devices, molecular machines, and organic batteries. This review highlights representative recent work and advances towards utilizing viologens in practical applications that currently compete with metal-based technologies. Additionally, modified viologens that can be further fine-tuned will be discussed.