Polymeric ionic liquids (PILs) with light-driven conductivity represent a new class of smart materials with potential applications as soft electronics, however the influence of counterion characteristics on their conducting properties remains unexplored. We synthesized a series of PILs based on copolymers of ethylene oxide and allyl glycidyl ether with different anions and light-responsive imidazolium-containing diarylethene (DAE) cations. This study shows that anion character impacts the photostationary state (PSS), magnitude of conductivity, and light-responsive properties of PILs. Compared with BF₄⁻, anions featuring stronger cation–anion interaction (I⁻) and higher ratio of the ring-closed isomer at PSS (TFSI⁻) have a larger impact on the degree of change in ionic conductivity upon light irradiation. With this versatile synthetic platform, the electronic properties of the DAE cations can be non-invasively modulated by light with minimal structural change, providing the ability to study, in situ, cation–anion interaction without competing effects that arise from changes in polymer T_g or counterion size. These results are beneficial for understanding ion transport and structural design of smart light-responsive PILs.

中文翻译：

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阴离子在含二芳基乙烯的聚合物离子液体中在光驱动电导率中的作用

具有光驱动电导率的聚合物离子液体（PIL）代表了一类新型的智能材料，具有作为软电子设备的潜在应用的潜力，然而，抗衡离子特性对其导电性能的影响尚待探索。我们基于环氧乙烷和烯丙基缩水甘油醚与不同阴离子和光响应性含咪唑二芳基乙烯（DAE）阳离子的共聚物合成了一系列PIL。这项研究表明，阴离子特性会影响PIL的光平稳状态（PSS），电导率大小和光响应特性。与BF相比₄ ^- ，阴离子配强阳离子-阴离子相互作用（I ^- ），并在PSS（TFSI的闭环异构体的比例越高^-）对光照射时离子电导率的变化程度有较大影响。利用这个多功能的合成平台，DAE阳离子的电子性质可以通过光进行无创调节，而结构变化很小，从而能够在原位研究阳离子-阴离子相互作用，而不会因聚合物T _g的变化而产生竞争效应。或抗衡尺寸。这些结果有助于理解智能光响应PIL的离子迁移和结构设计。