Elucidation of the electrochemical behavior of phenothiazine-based polyaromatic amines

Abstract Polyarlylamines with discrete redox active groups in the polymer backbone represent a promising class of cathode materials for electrical energy storage applications. In this area, our group recently reported a set of phenothiazine-based polymers that exhibit both high capacities and power densities. In order to rationally improve the properties of these electrode materials, a fundamental understanding of their electrochemical properties is indispensable. Herein, we probe the electrochemical behavior of our phenothiazine-based systems by synthesizing small molecule analogs using C–N cross-coupling. Additionally, electropolymerization of a class of these small molecule phenothiazines yields thin films that were then characterized with an electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance. Analysis of these materials provides insights into the number of electrons accessed from each repeat unit in our polymer backbone during electrochemical cycling, as well as counter ion transport dynamics.