Functional polyimides based on diamine containing diarylethylene moieties and their photochromic mechanism studies

Abstract

To expand the existing application conditions of photochromic polymers and enhance the tolerance of photochromic polymer electronic devices in extreme environments, a diamine monomer DTEDA bearing the diarylethylene (DTE) moiety was synthesized and polymerized with commercially available dihydrides to afford three polyimides (PIs, named DTEODPI, DTE6FPI and DTEHPMPI) through chemical imidization. These PIs realized reversible photo-triggered isomerization both in solution and in film state, with solution photoluminescence “on/off” effects. Semi-aromatic DTEHPMPI showed the largest contrast of color and fastest light response due to its local excited (LE) state. This research provides a simple method to prepare photochromic polymer materials with excellent comprehensive properties.