As conjugated polymers become more ubiqitous in society, steps must be taken to design polymers with end-of-life considerations in mind. In addition to DHPPs being synthetically simple, they may also be designed with motifs that enable degradation and recyclability. We accomplish this by installing azomethine linkages in the repeat unit of the polymer backbone where synthesized polymers can be broken down into starting material but also retain useful properties, such as fluorescence, of the DHPP building blocks. We continue to look for new applications for this new class of degradable polymer.

Dynamic, color-changing technologies are useful for numerous applications which requires systematic control of optoelectronic properties. We exploit the synthetic addressability of DHPP chromophores to synthesize novel and modular electrochromes. Systematic color-control is achieved by varying electronic contributions from peripheral substituents where neutral molecules absorb in the UV and the resulting absorbance, and subsequently color, of oxidized molecules is modulated across the visible spectrum. These characteristics translate to electrochromes with maximum optical contrasts in electrochromic applications.