Two series of novel polyazomethines (PAMs) P1–P5, Pa–Pe with an M_n of 1522–7879 g mol⁻¹ were prepared via the direct polycondensation from N,N-Bis(4-aminophenyl)-4-N′-carbazolyl-1,4- phenylenediamine, and N,N-Bis (4-aminophenyl)-N′,N′-di-phenyl-1,4-phenylenediamine with various dicarboxaldehyde such as phthaldialdehyde, 1,3-isophthalaldehyde, terephthalaldehyde, 4,4′-diformyltriphenylamine, 3,5-thiophenedialdehyde. All the polymers were amorphous with good solubility in many organic solvents, such as CHCl₃, tetrahydrofuran (THF), N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP) and N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), and could be solution-cast into polymer films. All polymers displayed outstanding thermal stabilities, i.e. 20% wt loss in excess of 470 °C under nitrogen. A hybrid density functional theory (DFT) method was used to calculate the optimized geometry and electronic structure of PAMs. The variation of the backbone ring significantly affected the dihedral angles and resulted in the variation of electronic properties. The HOMO and LUMO energy levels of these polymers calculated by electrochemistry and absorption spectra were in the range 4.687–5.189 and 2.366–2.989 eV below the vacuum level, respectively. Our study demonstrated the backbone ring can tune the electronic properties of conjugated PAMs effectively. All obtained PAMs revealed stability of electrochromic characteristics, changing color from original yellowish to red or violet or blue. And multiple reversible colours states were observed upon chemical doping. The properties prove that the polyazomethines are multipurpose materials which will be used in hole-transporting, electrochromic and chemical sensor applications in the near future.

A series of aromatic polyazomethines (PAMs) were prepared via direct polycondensation from 9-(2-ethylhexyl)-carbazole-3,6-dicarboxaldehyde and six different types of diamine containing triarylamines. The PAMs displayed good solubility in many organic solvents, such as tetrahydrofuran (THF), chloroform (CHCl₃) and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) which was beneficial for polymer film formation via spin coating, and exhibited outstanding thermal stability. These PAMs exhibited blue-green photoluminescence around 405–520 nm with a quantum yield of up to 48% in a dichloromethane (CH₂Cl₂) solution. They exhibited halochromic properties with a color change from yellow to red, accompanied by fluorescence quenching after HCl-doping. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels of the PAMs were determined from cyclic voltammograms to be −5.01 to −4.88 eV and −2.15 to −2.11 eV, respectively. The PAMs films not only had good electrochromic properties with high coloration efficiency, but also generated photovoltage and photocurrent under simulated solar radiation.

In this paper, vertically aligned K_1−xNa_xNbO₃(KNN) nanowires were synthesized by the hydrothermal method using KNN gel powders as precursors at 190 °C and 220 °C. Orthorhombic KNN nanowires and perovskite KNN nanowires with a morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) between rhombohedral and tetragonal forms were characterized by X-ray diffraction, SEM and TEM. The domain behaviour, ferroelectric property and the effective piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃ of the two crystal structures of the KNN nanowires were investigated. The d₃₃ of the KNN nanowires reacting at 190 °C and 220 °C were 26.37 pm V⁻¹ and 28.93 pm V⁻¹, respectively. Domain switching was observed in a KNN nanowire prepolarized at +8 Volts using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM).

The BHED additive optimizing the Zn ²⁺ solvation structure and in situ building the β-ME SAM with highly active zincophilic sites on the Zn anode surface, Zn-ion batteries exhibit excellent interfacial stability, cyclic reversibility, and longevity.