Lattice strain modulation toward efficient blue perovskite light-emitting diodes

Deep-blue narrow-band emissive cesium europium bromide perovskite nanocrystals with record high emission efficiency for wide-color-gamut backlight displays

Lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) are highly promising for backlighting display applications due to their high photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) and wide color gamut values. However, the practical applications of blue emitters are limited due to the toxicity of lead, unstable structure, and unsatisfactory PLQY. Herein, we report the successful synthesis of divalent europium-based perovskite CsEuBr3 NCs using a modified hot injection method. By optimizing the reaction conditions, the CsEuBr3 NCs display a deep-blue emission at 443 nm with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 28.5 nm, a color purity of 99.61%, and a record high PLQY of 93.51% for deep-blue narrow-band emissive lead-free perovskite NCs as far as we know. The emission mechanism of CsEuBr3 NCs is proved through first-principles calculations and spectral analysis. Notably, the CsEuBr3 NCs exhibit remarkable stability when exposed to high temperature, UV irradiation, and long-term sealed storage. The incorporation of CsEuBr3 NCs into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) serving as a converter is utilized for white light-emitting devices (WLEDs). WLEDs for backlight displays achieves a wide color gamut of 127.1% of the National Television System Committee standard (NTSC), 94.9% coverage of the ITU-R Recommendation BT.2020 (Rec.2020), and their half-lifetime is up to 1677 h, providing a promising pathway for highly efficient, environment-friendly and practical liquid crystal display backlights.

Strain Engineering in Perovskites: Mutual Insight on Oxides and Halides

Perovskite materials have garnered significant attention over the past decades due to their applications, not only in electronic materials, such as dielectrics, piezoelectrics, ferroelectrics, and superconductors but also in optoelectronic devices like solar cells and light emitting diodes. This interest arises from their versatile combinations and physiochemical tunability. While strain engineering is a recognized powerful tool for tailoring material properties, its collaborative impact on both oxides and halides remains understudied. Herein, strain engineering in perovskites for energy conversion devices, providing mutual insight into both oxides and halides is discussed. The various experimental methods are presented for applying strain by using thermal mismatch, lattice mismatch, defects, doping, light illumination, and flexible substrates. In addition, the main factors that are influenced by strain, categorized as structure (e.g., symmetry breaking, octahedral distortion), bandgap, chemical reactivity, and defect formation energy are described. After that, recent progress in strain engineering for perovskite oxides and halides for energy conversion devices is introduced. Promising methods for enhancing the performance of energy conversion devices using perovskites through strain engineering are suggested.

In Situ Hydrolysis of Phosphate Enabling Sky-Blue Perovskite Light-Emitting Diode with EQE Approaching 16.32

The performance of blue perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) lags behind the green and red counterparts owing to high trap density and undesirable red shift of the electroluminescence spectrum under operation conditions. Organic molecular additives were employed as passivators in previous reports. However, most commonly have limited functions, making it challenging to effectively address both efficiency and stability issues simultaneously. Herein, we reported an innovatively dynamic in situ hydrolysis strategy to modulate quasi-2D sky-blue perovskites by the multifunctional passivator phenyl dichlorophosphate that not only passivated the defects but also underwent in situ hydrolysis reaction to stabilize the emission. Moreover, hydrolysis products were beneficial for low-dimensional phase manipulation. Eventually, we obtained high-performance sky-blue PeLEDs with a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 16.32% and an exceptional luminance of 5740 cd m-2. More importantly, the emission peak of devices located at 485 nm remained stable under different biases. Our work signified the significant advancement toward realizing future applications of PeLEDs.

Ligand-Induced Cation-π Interactions Enable High-Efficiency, Bright, and Spectrally Stable Rec. 2020 Pure-Red Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes

Achieving high-performance perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) with pure-red electroluminescence for practical applications remains a critical challenge because of the problematic luminescence property and spectral instability of existing emitters. Herein, high-efficiency Rec. 2020 pure-red PeLEDs, simultaneously exhibiting exceptional brightness and spectral stability, based on CsPb(Br/I)3 perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) capping with aromatic amino acid ligands featuring cation-π interactions, are reported. It is proven that strong cation-π interactions between the PbI6 -octahedra of perovskite units and the electron-rich indole ring of tryptophan (TRP) molecules not only chemically polish the imperfect surface sites, but also markedly increase the binding affinity of the ligand molecules, leading to high photoluminescence quantum yields and greatly enhanced spectral stability of the CsPb(Br/I)3 NCs. Moreover, the incorporation of small-size aromatic TRP ligands ensures superior charge-transport properties of the assembled emissive layers. The resultant devices emitting at around 635 nm demonstrate a champion external quantum efficiency of 22.8%, a max luminance of 12 910 cd m-2 , and outstanding spectral stability, representing one of the best-performing Rec. 2020 pure-red PeLEDs achieved so far.

Charge injection engineering at organic/inorganic heterointerfaces for high-efficiency and fast-response perovskite light-emitting diodes

The development of advanced perovskite emitters has considerably improved the performance of perovskite light-emitting diodes (LEDs). However, the further development of perovskite LEDs requires ideal device electrical properties, which strongly depend on its interfaces. In perovskite LEDs with conventional p-i-n structures, hole injection is generally less efficient than electron injection, causing charge imbalance. Furthermore, the popular hole injection structure of NiOx/poly(9-vinylcarbazole) suffers from several issues, such as weak interfacial adhesion, high interfacial trap density and mismatched energy levels. In this work, we insert a self-assembled monolayer of [2-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)ethyl]phosphonic acid between the NiOx and poly(9-vinylcarbazole) layers to overcome these challenges at the organic/inorganic heterointerfaces by establishing a robust interface, passivating interfacial trap states and aligning the energy levels. We successfully demonstrate blue (emission at 493 nm) and green (emission at 515 nm) devices with external quantum efficiencies of 14.5% and 26.0%, respectively. More importantly, the self-assembled monolayer also gives rise to devices with much faster response speeds by reducing interfacial capacitance and resistance. Our results pave the way for developing more efficient and brighter perovskite LEDs with quick response, widening their potential application scope.

Manipulation of Charge Dynamics for Efficient and Bright Blue Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes with Chiral Ligands

Perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) emerge as a promising class of optoelectronic devices for next-generation displays and lighting technology. However, the performance of blue PeLEDs lags far behind that of their green and red counterparts, including the unachieved trade-off between high efficiency and high luminance, severe efficiency roll-off, and unsatisfactory power efficiency. Here, a multi-functional chiral ligand of L-phenylalanine methyl ester hydrochloride is strategically introduced into quasi-2D perovskites, which can effectively passivate defects, modulate the phase distribution, improve photoluminescence quantum yield, guarantee high-quality film morphology, and enhance charge transport. Furthermore, ladder-like hole transport layers are established, boosting charge injection and balance. The resultant sky-blue PeLEDs (the photoluminescence peak is 493 nm and the electroluminescence peak is 497 nm) exhibit an external quantum efficiency of 12.43% at 1000 cd m-2 and a record power efficiency of 18.42 lm W-1 , rendering that the performance is among the best blue PeLEDs.

Perovskite Nanocrystals Protected by Hermetically Sealing for Highly Bright and Stable Deep-Blue Light-Emitting Diodes

Metal-halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have emerged as suitable light-emitting materials for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and other practical applications. However, LEDs with perovskite NCs undergo environment-induced and ion-migration-induced structural degradation during operation; therefore, novel NC design concepts, such as hermetic sealing of the perovskite NCs, are required. Thus far, viable synthetic conditions to form a robust and hermetic semiconducting shell on perovskite NCs have been rarely reported for LED applications because of the difficulties in the delicate engineering of encapsulation techniques. Herein, a highly bright and durable deep-blue perovskite LED (PeLED) formed by hermetically sealing perovskite NCs with epitaxial ZnS shells is reported. This shell protects the perovskite NCs from the environment, facilitates charge injection/transport, and effectively suppresses interparticle ion migration during the LED operation, resulting in exceptional brightness (2916 cd m-2 ) at 451 nm and a high external quantum efficiency of 1.32%. Furthermore, even in the unencapsulated state, the LED shows a long operational lifetime (T50 ) of 1192 s (≈20 min) in the air. These results demonstrate that the epitaxial and hermetic encapsulation of perovskite NCs is a powerful strategy for fabricating high-performance deep-blue-emitting PeLEDs.

Paper-based sensor based on lead-free manganese halide for the determination of water content in organic solvents

A highly stable and luminescent lead-free manganese(II) halide hybrid MnBr₄(TMN)₂ (C₃₄H₄₂Br₄MnN₄) was designed and synthesized by introducing a large cationic organic spacer. The MnBr₄(TMN)₂ displays high luminescence with quantum yields up to 77% and possesses turn-off fluorescence behavior (E_x/E_m=365/546 nm) for water. These properties make the MnBr₄(TMN)₂ a promising candidate as an alternative indicator for the detection of water with potential applications for the fabrication of LEDs. Herein, a paper-based sensor based on MnBr₄(TMN)₂ is described for the determination of water content in organic solvents. The mechanism of water sensing can be tentatively explained by fluorescence quenching originating from the destruction of water due to the Mn-Br bonds of MnBr₄(TMN)₂. The MnBr₄(TMN)₂-based paper sensor exhibits an excellent discrimination ability of water content in the range 0-25.0% with a detection limit of 0.27%. Satisfactory recoveries (94.91±4.09% to 103.23±2.38%) are obtained in spiked ethanol solvent samples, which demonstrate that the MnBr₄(TMN)₂-based paper sensor is capable of detecting water content in real ethanol solvent samples.

Trifunctional Trichloroacetic Acid Incorporated Mixed-Halide Perovskites for Spectrally Stable Blue Light-Emitting Diodes

Metal halide perovskites have won great recognition in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Nevertheless, the development of blue perovskite LEDs is facing a bottleneck in improving the device performance. Although mixed chloride/bromide perovskites can achieve pure-blue emission straightforwardly, higher chloride content will induce the challenges of low photoluminescence quantum yield and poor spectra stability resulting from the chloride vacancy defects and resultant halide ion migration under an electric field. In this work, we introduce a reliable trifunctional additive trichloroacetic acid into mixed-halide perovskites, which can provide additional chloride to fill halide vacancies, passivate the uncoordinated Pb²⁺ ion defects, and promote the crystallization effectively. Owning to the utilization of trichloroacetic acid, the ultimate pure-blue perovskite LED obtains stable electroluminescent spectra at 477 nm under various bias and demonstrates a 5-fold external quantum efficiency improvement (up to 6.6%).

Multifunctional and Multicolor Perovskite-CdSe Quantum Dots Diodes for Pulse Oximetry

A conventional pulse oximeter system is composed of two light sources with different peak emission wavelengths and a photodetector. Integrating these three independent components into one single device will absolutely simplify the system design and create a miniaturized size of the product. Here, we demonstrate a bilayer perovskite-CdSe quantum dot (hereafter perovskite-QD) diode capable of voltage-tunable green/red emission and photodetection. The proposed diode also presents an intriguing feature of simultaneous light emission and detection, which is explored as regards the diode being used as a photoconductor when the positive bias is larger than the built-in voltage. The multifunctional and multicolor diode is further employed in a reflective pulse oximeter system, as either the multicolor light sources or the sensing unit in the system provide accepted and trustful results for heart rate and arterial blood oxygenation. Our work provides a possible avenue for the simplification of the pulse oximetry with a compact and miniaturized design in the future.

Tuning the energy transfer in Ruddlesden-Popper perovskites phases through isopropylammonium addition - towards efficient blue emitters

Here we demonstrate blue LEDs with a peak wavelength of 481 nm, with outstanding colour purity of up to 88% (CIE coordinates (0.1092, 0.1738)), an external quantum yield of 5.2% and a luminance of 8260 cd m^-2. These devices are based on quasi-2D PEA₂(Cs_0.75MA_0.25)Pb₂Br₇, which is cast from solutions containing isopropylammonium (iPAm). iPAm as additive assist in supressing the formation of bulk-like phases, as pointed out by both photophysical and structural characterization. Additionally, the study of the excitation dynamics demonstrates a hindering of the energy transfer to domains of lower energy that generally undermines the performance and emission characteristics of blue-emitting LEDs based on quasi-2D perovskites. The achieved narrow distribution of quantum well sizes and the hindered energy transfer result in a thin film photoluminescence quantum yield exceeding 60%. Our work demonstrates the great potential to tailor the composition and the structure of thin films based on Ruddlesden-Popper phases to boost performance of optoelectronic devices - specifically blue perovskite LEDs.

Interface Engineering with Quaternary Ammonium-Based Ionic Liquids toward Efficient Blue Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes

Perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) have become a hot research topic in recent years and can now achieve an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of over 22% for green and red devices. However, the efficiency of blue PeLEDs, which are essential for display applications, lags far behind their green and red counterparts. The interface of the PeLEDs has a critical influence on the carrier transport and exciton recombination dynamics, and interface engineering is considered to be an effective strategy to improve the device performance. Herein, quaternary ammonium-based ionic liquids serve as an interfacial modification layer to significantly improve the device efficiency and stability. The interaction of quaternary ammonium cations with Pb(Br/Cl)6 octahedra promotes nucleation sites, which significantly improves the morphology of perovskite films and reduces the formation of defects in films. In addition, ion migration is also effectively suppressed in the device. As a result, with tributylmethylammonium bromide (TMAB) used as the interface layer, the EQE of the device is successfully increased from 3.5 to 6.7%, and the operational stability with a half-lifetime (T50) is increased by over 12 times. Our work provides a new class of interface modification materials toward high-performance blue PeLEDs.