Orienting Group Directed Cascade Borylation for Efficient One-Shot Synthesis of 1,4-BN-Doped Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons as Narrowband Organic Emitters

1,4-BN-doped polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have emerged as very promising emitters in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) due to their narrowband emission spectra that may find application in high-definition displays. While considerable research has focused on investigating the properties of these materials, less attention has been placed on their synthetic methodology. Here we developed an efficient synthetic method for 1,4-BN-doped PAHs, which enables sustainable production of narrowband organic emitting materials. By strategically introducing substituents, such as methyl, tert-butyl, phenyl, and chloride, at the C5 position of the 1,3-benzenediamine substrates, we achieved remarkable regioselective borylation in the para-position of the substituted moiety. This approach facilitated the synthesis of a diverse range of 1,4-BN-doped PAHs emitters with good yields and exceptional regioselectivity. The synthetic method demonstrated excellent scalability for large-scale production and enabled late-stage transformation of the borylated products. Mechanistic investigations provided valuable insights into the pivotal roles of electron effect and steric hindrance effect in achieving highly efficient regioselective borylation. Moreover, the outstanding device performance of the synthesized compounds 10 b and 6 z, underscores the practicality and significance of the developed method.

Polymer Dots with Delayed Fluorescence and Tunable Cellular Uptake for Photodynamic Therapy and Time-Gated Imaging

By combining bioimaging and photodynamic therapy (PDT), it is possible to treat cancer through a theranostic approach with targeted action for minimum invasiveness and side effects. Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) probes have gained recent interest in theranostics due to their ability to generate singlet oxygen (1O2) while providing delayed emission that can be used in time-gated imaging. However, it is still challenging to design systems that simultaneously show (1) high contrast for imaging, (2) low dark toxicity but high phototoxicity and (3) tunable biological uptake. Here, we circumvent shortcomings of TADF systems by designing block copolymers and their corresponding semiconducting polymer dots (Pdots) that encapsulate a TADF dye in the core and expose an additional boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) oxygen sensitizer in the corona. This architecture provides orange-red luminescent particles (ΦPL up to 18 %) that can efficiently promote PDT (1O2 QY=42 %) of HeLa cells with very low photosensitizer loading (IC50 ~0.05-0.13 μg/mL after 30 min). Additionally, we design Pdots with tunable cellular uptake but similar PDT efficiencies using either polyethylene glycol or guanidinium-based coronas. Finally, we demonstrate that these Pdots can be used for time-gated imaging to effectively filter out background fluorescence from biological samples and improve image contrast.

Enhancing Light-Emitting Efficiency of Blue Through-Space Charge Transfer Emitters via Fixing Configuration Induced by Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonding

Closely aligned configuration of the donor (D) and acceptor (A) is crucial for the light-emitting efficiency of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials with through-space charge transfer (TSCT) characteristics. However, precisely controlling the D-A distance of blue TSCT-TADF emitters is still challenging. Herein, an extra donor (D*) located on the side of the primary donor (D) is introduced to construct the hydrogen bonding with A and thus modulate the distance of D and A units to prepare high-efficiency blue TSCT emitters. The obtained "V"-shaped TSCT emitter presents a minimal D-A distance of 2.890 Å with a highly parallel D-A configuration. As a result, a high rate of radiative decay (>107 s-1) and photoluminescence quantum yield (nearly 90%) are achieved. The corresponding blue organic light-emitting diodes show maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQEmax) of 27.9% with a Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinate of (0.16, 0.21), which is the highest device efficiency of fluorene-based blue TSCT-TADF emitters. In addition, the TSCT-TADF emitter-sensitized OLEDs also achieve a high EQEmax of 29.3% with a CIE coordinate of (0.12, 0.16) and a narrow emission.

Bridging of Cove Regions: A Strategy for Realizing Persistently Chiral Double Heterohelicenes with Attractive Luminescent Properties

The racemization of chiral organic compounds is a common chemical phenomenon. However, it often poses configurational-stability issues to the application of this class of compounds. Achieving chiral organic compounds without the risk of racemization is fascinating, but it is challenging due to a lack of strategies. Here, we reveal the cove-regions bridging strategy for achieving persistently chiral multi-helicenes (incapable of racemization), based on the synthesized proof-of-concept double hetero[4]helicenes featuring macrocycle structures with a small 3D cavity. Additionally, we demonstrate that the strategy is also effective in tuning the electronic structures of multi-helicenes, resulting in a conversion from luminescence silence into thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) for the present system. Furthermore, red circularly polarized TADF based on small double [4]helicene systems is achieved for the first time using this strategy. The disclosed cove-regions bridging strategy provides an opportunity to modulate the electronic structures and luminescent properties of multi-helicenes without concern for racemization, thus significantly enhancing the structural and property diversity of multi-helicenes for various applications.

Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence with Nanosecond Emission Lifetimes and Minor Concentration Quenching: Achieving High-Performance Nondoped and Doped Blue OLEDs

Simultaneously achieving a high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY), ultrashort exciton lifetime, and suppressed concentration quenching in thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials is desirable yet challenging. Here, a novel acceptor-donor-acceptor type TADF emitter, namely, 2BO-sQA, wherein two oxygen-bridged triarylboron (BO) acceptors are arranged with cofacial alignment and positioned nearly orthogonal to the rigid dispirofluorene-quinolinoacridine (sQA) donor is reported. This molecular design enables the compound to achieve highly efficient (PLQYs up to 99%) and short-lived (nanosecond-scale) blue TADF with effectively suppressed concentration quenching in films. Consequently, the doped organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) base on 2BO-sQA achieve exceptional electroluminescence performance across a broad range of doping concentrations, maintaining maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) at over 30% for doping concentrations ranging from 10 to 70 wt%. Remarkably, the nondoped blue OLED achieves a record-high maximum EQE of 26.6% with a small efficiency roll-off of 14.0% at 1000 candelas per square meter. By using 2BO-sQA as the sensitizer for the multiresonance TADF emitter ν-DABNA, TADF-sensitized fluorescence OLEDs achieve high-efficiency deep-blue emission. These results demonstrate the feasibility of this molecular design in developing TADF emitters with high efficiency, ultrashort exciton lifetime, and minimal concentration quenching.

Extended Conjugation Strategy Enabling Red-Shifted and Efficient Emission of Orange-Red Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials

In account of the energy gap law, the development of efficient narrow-band gap thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials remains a major challenge for the application of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The orange-red TADF materials are commonly designed with either large π-conjugated systems or strong intramolecular donor-acceptor (D-A) interactions for red-shift emission and small singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔEST). There are rare reports on the simultaneous incorporation of these two strategies on the same material systems. Herein, two orange-red emitters named 1P2D-BP and 2P2D-DQ have been designed by extending the conjugation degree of the center acceptor DQ and increasing the number distribution of the peripheral donor PXZ units, respectively. The emission peak of 1P2D-BP is red-shifted to 615 nm compared to 580 nm for 2P2D-DQ, revealing the pronounced effect of the conjugation extension on the emission band gap. In addition, the distorted molecular structure yields a small ΔEST of 0.02 eV, favoring the acquisition of a high exciton utilization through an efficient reverse intersystem crossing process. As a result, orange-red OLEDs with both 1P2D-BP and 2P2D-DQ have achieved an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of more than 17%. In addition, the efficient white OLED based on 1P2D-BP is realized through precise exciton assignment and energy transport modulation, showing an EQE of 23.6% and a color rendering index of 82. The present work provides an important reference for the design of high-efficiency narrow-band gap materials in the field of solid-state lighting.

Single-Layer Organic Light-Emitting Diode with Trap-Free Host Beats Power Efficiency and Lifetime of Multilayer Devices

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) employing a single active layer potentially offer a number of benefits compared to multilayer devices; reduced number of materials and deposition steps, potential for solution processing, and reduced operating voltage due to the absence of heterojunctions. However, for single-layer OLEDs to achieve efficiencies approaching those of multilayer devices, balanced charge transport is a prerequisite. This requirement excludes many efficient emitters based on thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) that exhibit electron trapping, such as the green-emitting bis(4-(9,9-dimethylacridin-10(9H)-yl)phenyl)methanone (DMAC-BP). By employing a recently developed trap-free large band gap material as a host for DMAC-BP, nearly balanced charge transport is achieved. The single-layer OLED reaches an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 19.6%, which is comparable to the reported EQEs of 18.9-21% for multilayer devices, but achieves a record power efficiency for DMAC-BP OLEDs of 82 lm W-1, clearly surpassing the reported multilayer power efficiencies of 52.9-59 lm W-1. In addition, the operational stability is greatly improved compared to multilayer devices and the use of conventional host materials in combination with DMAC-BP as an emitter. Next to the obvious reduction in production costs, single-layer OLEDs therefore also offer the advantage of reduced energy consumption and enhanced stability.

Ultrafast spin-flip exciton conversion and narrowband sky-blue luminescence in a fused polycyclic selenaborin emitter

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials with high photoluminescence quantum yields and fast reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) capabilities are highly desirable for applications in high-efficiency organic light-emitting diodes. Herein, we report the synthesis as well as structural and photophysical properties of 5,9-diselena-13b-boranaphtho[3,2,1-de]anthracene (SeBSe) as a narrowband-emissive TADF material. The incorporation of two selenium atoms into the boron-fused pentacyclic π-core results in a small singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔE ST) and thereby significant TADF properties. Moreover, theoretical calculations revealed a noticeable spin-orbit coupling enhancement between the singlet and triplet manifolds in SeBSe by virtue of the heavy-atom effect of selenium atoms. Consequently, SeBSe allows ultrafast spin-flip RISC with the rate constant surpassing 108 s-1, which far exceeds the corresponding fluorescence radiative decay rate (∼106 s-1), enabling an ideal singlet-triplet superimposed excited state.

Anionic Hydrogen-Bonded Frameworks Showing Tautomerism and Colorful Luminescence for the Ultrasensitive Detection of Acetone

Tautomers coexisting in an equilibrium system have significant potential for regulating luminescent properties because of their structural differences. However, separating and stabilizing tautomers at room temperature is a considerable challenge. In this study, it is found that hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) composed of Br- anions can effectively separate and stabilize two proton-transfer tautomers of triarylformamidinium bromide: namely, the nitrogen cation (BA-N) and carbon cation (BA-C). The BA-N crystal consisting of a dense anionic HOF and parallelly aligned organic cations exhibits green thermally activated delayed fluorescence and red room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP). The BA-C crystal contains acetone molecules that induce an antiparallel arrangement of the organic cations to form a loose HOF, producing blue prompt fluorescence and green RTP. Interestingly, switching of the HOFs between BA-N and BA-C can be achieved through the uptake and release of acetone, thereby dynamically adjusting multiple luminescent properties. Consequently, the HOF crystals can be used for the highly sensitive and specific sensing of acetone with a detection limit of 66.74 ppm. This study not only stabilizes tautomeric luminescent materials at room temperature, but also provides a new method for constructing smart HOFs with a sensitive response to a stimulus.

Regulating Triplet Excitons of Organic Luminophores for Promoted Bioimaging

Afterglow materials with organic room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) or thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) exhibit significant potential in biological imaging due to their long lifetime. By utilizing time-resolved technology, interference from biological tissue fluorescence can be mitigated, enabling high signal-- to-background ratio imaging. Despite the continued emergence of individual reports on RTP or TADF in recent years, comprehensive reviews addressing these two materials are rare. Therefore, this review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of several typical molecular designs for organic RTP and TADF materials. It also explores the primary methods through which triplet excitons resist quenching by water and oxygen. Furthermore, we analyze the principal challenges faced by afterglow materials and discuss key directions for future research with the hope of inspiring developments in afterglow imaging.

Expanding Multiple-Resonance Structure of a Double-Borylated Skeleton by Fusing with Indolocarbazole a Multiple-Resonance Donor for Narrowband Green Emission

Double-borylated multiple-resonance (MR) skeletons are promising templates for high performance, while the chemical design space is relatively limited. Peripheral segments are often used to decorate/fuse MR skeletons and modulate the photophysics but they can also cause unwanted spectral broadening. Herein, a narrowband MR emitter ICzDBA by fusing an MR-featured donor segment indolocarbazole into a double-borylated MR skeleton is developed. In ICzDBA, the nitrogen atom located away from the core benzene ring can also contribute to the generation of the overall MR-featured distribution through the long-range conjugation effect, along with the other boron/nitrogen atoms on the phenyl center. Thus, ICzDBA in toluene displays a narrowband emission peaking at 507 nm with a full width at half maximum of merely 20 nm (0.09 eV). Moreover, organic light-emitting diode devices using ICzDBA emitter exhibit ultrapure green emission with Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.27, 0.70) and a high external quantum efficiency of 32.5%. These results manifest the importance of MR characters of peripheral decorations/fusions in preserving the narrowband features of MR skeletons, which provides a solution for further expanding MR structures with well-maintained narrowband characters.

Creating Efficient Red Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials with Cyano-Substituted 11,12-Diphenyldipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine Acceptors

Red luminescent materials are essential components for full color display and white lightening based on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology, but the extension of emission color towards red or deep red region generally leads to decreased photoluminescence and electroluminescence efficiencies. Herein, we wish to report two new luminescent molecules (2CNDPBPPr-TPA and 4CNDPBPPr-TPA) consisting of cyano-substituted 11,12-diphenyldipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine acceptors and triphenylamine donors. As the increase of cyano substituents, the emission wavelength is greatly red-shifted and the reverse intersystem crossing process is promoted, resulting in strong red delayed fluorescence. Meanwhile, due to the formation of intramolecular hydrogen bonds, the molecular structures become rigidified and planarized, which brings about large horizontal dipole ratios. As a result, 2CNDPBPPr-TPA and 4CNDPBPPr-TPA can perform as emitters efficiently in OLEDs, furnishing excellent external quantum efficiencies of 28.8 % at 616 nm and 20.2 % at 648 nm, which are significantly improved in comparison with that of the control molecule without cyano substituents. The findings in this work demonstrate that the introduction of cyano substituents to the acceptors of delayed fluorescence molecules could be a facile and effective approach to explore high-efficiency red or deep red delayed fluorescence materials.

Enabling Highly Robust Full-Color Ultralong Room-Temperature Phosphorescence and Stable White Organic Afterglow from Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

In this work, full-color and stable white organic afterglow materials with outstanding water, organic solvents, and temperature resistances have been developed for the first time by embedding the selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons into melamine-formaldehyde polymer via solution polymerization. The afterglow quantum yields and lifetimes of the resulting polymer films were up to 22.7 % and 4.83 s, respectively, under ambient conditions. For the coronene-doped sample, its afterglow color could be linearly tuned between yellow and blue by adjusting the temperature, and it could still emit an intense blue afterglow with a lifetime of 0.68 s at 440 K. Moreover, the films showed a bright and stable white afterglow at 370 K with a lifetime of 2.80 s and maintained an excellent afterglow performance after soaking in water and organic solvents for more than 150 days. In addition, the application potential of the polymer films in information encryption and anti-counterfeiting was also demonstrated.

Exploring Robust Delayed Fluorescence Materials via Structural Rigidification for Realizing Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with High Efficiencies and Small Roll-Offs

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials have been widely studied for the fabrication of high-performance organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), but the serious efficiency roll-offs still remain unsolved in most cases. Herein, it is wish to report a series of robust green TADF compounds containing rigid xanthenone acceptor and acridine-based spiro donors. The enhancement in molecular rigidity not only endows the compounds with improved thermal stability but also results in reduced geometric vibrations and thus lowered reorganization energies. These compounds exhibit distinct merits of high thermal stabilities, excellent photoluminescence quantum efficiencies (96%-97%), large horizontal dipole orientation ratios (87.4%-92.1%) and fast TADF rates (1.4-1.5 × 106 s-1 ). The OLEDs using them as emitters furnish superb electroluminescence performances with outstanding external quantum efficiencies (ηext s) of up to 37.4% and very small efficiency roll-offs. Moreover, highly efficient hyperfluorescence OLEDs are obtained by using them as sensitizers for the green mutilresonance TADF emitter BN2, delivering excellent ηext s of up to 34.2% and improved color purity. These results disclose the high potential of these TADF compounds as emitters and sensitizers for OLEDs.

Simultaneously Realizing High Efficiency and High Color Rendering Index for Hybrid White Organic Light-Emitting Diodes by Ultra-Thin Design of Delayed Fluorescence Sensitized Phosphorescent Layers

In consideration of energy economization and light quality, concurrently attaining high external quantum efficiency (ηext ) and high color rendering index (CRI) is of high significance for the commercialization of hybrid white organic light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs) but is challenging. Herein, a blue luminescent molecule (2PCz-XT) consisting of a xanthone acceptor and two 3,6-diphenylcarbazole donors is prepared, which exhibits strong delayed fluorescence, short delayed fluorescence lifetime, and excellent electroluminescence property, and can sensitize green, orange, and red phosphorescent emitters efficiently. By employing 2PCz-XT as sensitizer and phosphorescent emitters as dopants, efficient two-color and three-color WOLED architectures with ultra-thin phosphorescent emitting layers (EMLs) are proposed and constructed. By incorporating a thin interlayer to modulate exciton recombination zone and reduce exciton loss, high-performance three-color hybrid WOLEDs are finally achieved, providing a high ηext of 26.8% and a high CRI value 83 simultaneously. Further configuration optimization realizes a long device operational lifetime. These WOLEDs with ultra-thin phosphorescent EMLs are among the state-of-the-art hybrid WOLEDs in the literature, demonstrating the success and applicability of the proposed device design for developing robust hybrid WOLEDs with superb efficiency and color quality.

An A-D-A-Type Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitter with Intrinsic Yellow Emission Realizing Record-High Red/NIR OLEDs upon Modulating Intermolecular Aggregations

Realizing efficient red/near-infrared (NIR) electroluminescence (EL) by precisely modulating molecular aggregations of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters is an attractive pathway, yet the molecular designs are elusive. Here, a new approach is proposed to manage molecular aggregation via a mild-twist acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A)-type molecular design. A proof-of-concept TADF molecule, QCN-PhSAC-QCN, is developed that furnishes a fast radiative rate and obvious aggregation-induced emission feature. Its emission bands can be facilely shifted from intrinsic yellow to the red/NIR region via fine-tuning doping levels and molecular aggregates while maintaining elegant photoluminescence quantum yields benefiting from suppressed exciton annihilation processes. As a result, a QCN-PhSAC-QCN-based organic light-emitting diode (OLED) exhibits a record-setting external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 39.1% at a doping ratio of 10 wt.%, peaking at 620 nm. Moreover, its nondoped NIR OLED affords a champion EQE of 14.3% at 711 nm and retains outstanding EQEs of 5.40% and 2.35% at current densities of 10 and 100 mA cm-2 , respectively, which are the highest values among all NIR-TADF OLEDs at similar density levels. This work validates the feasibility of such mild-twist A-D-A-type molecular design for precisely controlling molecular aggregation while maintaining high efficiency, thus providing a promising pathway for high-performance red/NIR TADF OLEDs.

Frontier Molecular Orbital Engineering of Aromatic Donor Fusion: Modularly Constructing Highly Efficient Narrowband Yellow Electroluminescence

The development of high-performance multiple resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) materials with narrowband yellow emission is highly critical for various applications in industries, such as the automotive, aerospace, and microelectronic industries. However, the modular construction approaches to expeditiously access narrowband yellow-emitting materials is relatively rare. Here, a unique molecular design concept based on frontier molecular orbital engineering (FMOE) of aromatic donor fusion is proposed to strategically address this issue. Donor fusion is a modular approach with a "leveraging effect"; through direct polycyclization of donor attached to the MR parent core, it is facile to achieve red-shifted emission by a large margin. As a result, two representative model molecules, namely BN-Cz and BN-Cb, have been constructed successfully. The BN-Cz- and BN-Cb-based sensitized organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) exhibit bright yellow emission with peaks of 560 and 556 nm, full-width at half-maxima (fwhm's) of 49 and 45 nm, Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage coordinates of (0.44, 0.55) and (0.43, 0.56), and maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of 32.9% and 29.7%, respectively. The excellent optoelectronic performances render BN-Cz and BN-Cb one of the most outstanding yellow-emitting MR-TADF materials.

Adjusting the Electron-Withdrawing Ability of Acceptors in Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Conjugated Polymers for High-Performance OLEDs

Constructing high-performance solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) conjugated polymers remains a challenging issue. The electron-withdrawing ability of acceptors in TADF units significantly affects the TADF properties of the conjugated polymers. Herein, we have designed three TADF conjugated polymers, in which phenoxazine donors and anthracen-9(10H)-one acceptors are incorporated into the polymeric backbones and side chains, respectively, and the carbazole derivative is copolymerized as the host. By incorporating different heteroatoms, such as nitrogen, oxygen, or sulfur, with slightly different electronegativities into anthracen-9(10H)-one, the effect of the electron-withdrawing ability of the acceptor on the performance of conjugated TADF polymer-based OLEDs is thus systematically studied. It is found that the introduction of a nitrogen atom can enhance the spin-orbital coupling and RISC process due to the modulated energy levels and nature of the excited states. As a result, the solution-processed OLEDs based on the prepared polymer p-PXZ-XN display an excellent comprehensive performance with an EQEmax of 17.6%, a low turn-on voltage of 2.8 V, and a maximum brightness of 14750 cd m-2. Notably, the efficiency roll-off is quite low, maintaining 15.1% at 1000 cd m-2, 12.1% at 3000 cd m-2, and 6.1% at 10000 cd m-2, which ranks in the first tier among the reported TADF conjugated polymers. This work provides a guideline for constructing high-efficiency TADF polymers.

Achieving Long-Wavelength Electroluminescence Using Two-Coordinate Gold(I) Complexes: Overcoming the Energy Gap Law

Two-coordinate coinage metal complexes have emerged as promising emitters for highly efficient organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs). However, achieving efficient long-wavelength electroluminescence emission from these complexes remains as a daunting challenge. To address this challenge, molecular design strategies aimed at bolstering the photoluminescence quantum yield (Φ) of Au(I) complex emitters in low-energy emission regions are investigated. By varying amido ligands, a series of two-coordinate Au(I) complexes is developed that exhibit photoluminescence peak wavelengths over a broad range of 533-750 nm. These complexes, in particular, maintain Φ values up to 10% even in the near-infrared emission region, overcoming the constraints imposed by an energy gap. Quantum chemical calculations and photophysical analyses reveal the action of radiative control, which serves to overcome the energy gap law, becomes more pronounced as the overlap between hole and electron distributions (Sr (r)) in the excited state increases. It is further elucidated that Sr (r) increases with the distance between the hole-distribution centroid and the nitrogen atom in an amido ligand. Finally, multilayer OLEDs involving the Au(I) complex emitters exhibit performances beyond the borderline of the electroluminescence wavelength-external quantum efficiency space set by previous devices of coinage metal complexes.

Molecular Engineering Modulating the Singlet-Triplet Energy Splitting of Indolocarbazole-Based TADF Emitters Exhibiting AIE Properties for Nondoped Blue OLEDs with EQE of Nearly 20

The development of efficient blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters with an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) nature, for the construction of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), is still insufficient. This can be attributed to the challenges encountered in molecular design, including the inherent trade-off between radiative decay and reverse intersystem crossing (RISC), as well as small singlet-triplet energy splitting (ΔEST) and the requirement for high photoluminescence quantum yields (ΦPL). Herein, we present the design of three highly efficient blue TADF molecules with AIE characteristics by combining π-extended donors with different acceptors to modulate the differences in the electron-donating and electron-withdrawing abilities. This approach not only ensures high emission efficiency by suppressing close π-π stacking, weakening nonradiative relaxation, and enhancing radiative transition but also maintains the equilibrium ratio between the triplet and singlet excitons by facilitating the process of RISC. These emitters exhibit AIE and TADF properties, featuring quick radiative rates and low nonradiative rates. The ΦPL of these emitters reached an impressive 88%. Based on their excellent comprehensive performance, nondoped PICzPMO and PICzPMO OLEDs achieved excellent electroluminescence performance, exhibiting maximum external quantum efficiency (EQEmax) of up to 19.5%, while the doped device achieved a higher EQEmax of 20.8%. This work demonstrated that by fusing π-extended large rigid donors with different acceptors, it is possible to regulate the difference in electron-donating and electron-withdrawing abilities, resulting in a small ΔEST, high ΦPL, and fast RISC process, which is a highly feasible strategy for designing efficient TADF molecules.

Exploration of Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence (TADF)-Based Photoredox Catalyst To Establish the Mechanisms of Action for Photodynamic Therapy

The mechanisms of action (MoA) have been proposed to further reduce the O2 dependence of photodynamic therapy (PDT) significantly. However, the triplet states of traditional photosensitizers are relatively short and also are easily deactivated by the quenching of H2O or O2. This is not conducive for the electron transfer in the photocatalytic process and poses a great obstacle to establish the MoA. Therefore, we selected and synthesized a zirconium(IV) complex (Zr(MesPDPPh)2) reported by Milsmann to address this issue. The specific symmetric and intact geometry endowed Zr(MesPDPPh)2 NPs with long-lived triplet excited state (τ = 350 μs), desired sensitized ability, and improved anti-interfering performance on O2, which was matched with the requirements of photoredox catalyst significantly. The results showed that while PDT (I) and PDT (II) could be achieved simultaneously by leveraging Zr(MesPDPPh)2 NPs, it also could be served as a rare example of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF)-based photoredox catalyst to implement the MoA of PDT. It involved the oxidation of NADH and the establishment of catalytic cycle collaborating by O2 and cytochrome c (cyt c) in normoxia and hypoxia, respectively. As a result, the oxygen-free PDT and tumor-growth inhibition was realized.

Near-Infrared Conjugated Polymers Containing Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Units Enable Enhanced Photothermal Therapy

Photothermal therapy (PTT) using near-infrared (NIR) conjugated polymers as photosensitizers has exhibited enormous potential for tumor treatment. However, most NIR conjugated polymers have poor therapeutic efficacy due to their faint absorbance in the NIR region and low photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE). Herein, a valuable strategy for designing NIR polymeric photosensitizer PEKBs with an enhanced PCE accompanied by strong NIR absorbance is proposed by means of inserting TPA-AQ as a thermally activated delayed fluorescence unit into a polymeric backbone. In these PEKBs, PEKB-244 with the appropriate molar content of the TPA-AQ unit displays the strongest NIR absorbance and the highest PCE of 64.5%. Theoretical calculation results demonstrate that the TPA-AQ unit in the polymeric backbone can modulate the intramolecular charge transfer effects and the excited energy decay routes for generating higher heat. The prepared nanoparticles (PEKB-244 NPs) exhibit remarkable photothermal conversion capacities and great biocompatibility in aqueous solutions. Moreover, PEKB-244 NPs also show outstanding photothermal stability, displaying negligible changes in the absorbance within 808 nm irradiation of 1 h (800 mW cm-2). Both in vitro and in vivo experimental results further indicate that PEKB-244 NPs can substantially kill cancer cells under NIR laser irradiation. We anticipate that this novel molecular design strategy can be employed to develop excellent NIR photosensitizers for cancer photothermal therapy.

Achieving the Reverse Intersystem Crossing in Chalcone Based Donor-Acceptor System through Down-Conversion of Triplet Exciton

In recent years, understanding the mechanism of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) has become the primary choice for designing high-efficiency, low-cost, metal-free organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Herein, we propose a strategically designed chalcone based donor-acceptor system, where intensification of delayed fluorescence with decrease in temperature (300 K to 100 K) is observed; the theoretical investigations of electronic states and orbital characters uncovered a new cold rISC pathway in donor-acceptor system, where rISC occurs through the down-conversation of higher triplet exciton (from T3 ) to lowest singlet state (S1 ), having negative energy splitting, thus no thermal energy is required. The comprehensive research described herein might open-up new avenues in donor-acceptor system over the conventional up-convention of triplet exciton and demonstrates that not necessarily all delayed fluorescence are thermally activated (TADF).

Pure Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Isomerides with Delayed Fluorescence and Anti-Kasha Emission: High-Efficiency Non-Doped Fluorescence OLEDs

Pure polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) consisting solely of carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds offer great potential for constructing durable and cost-effective emitters in organic electroluminescence devices. However, achieving versatile fluorescence characteristics in pure PAHs remains a considerable challenge, particularly without the inclusion of heteroatoms. Herein, an efficient approach is presented that involves incorporating non-six-membered rings into classical pyrene isomerides, enabling simultaneous achievement of full-color emission, delayed fluorescence, and anti-Kasha emission. Theoretical calculations reveal that the intensity and distribution of aromaticity/anti-aromaticity in both ground and excited states play a crucial role in determining the excited levels and fluorescence yields. Transient fluorescence measurements confirm the existence of thermally activated delayed fluorescence in pure PAHs. By utilizing these PAHs as emitting layers, electroluminescent spectra covering the entire visible region along with a maximum external quantum efficiency of 9.1% can be achieved, leading to the most exceptional results among non-doped pure hydrocarbon-based devices.

Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters Based on a Special Tetrahedral Silane Core

Based on the tetraphenylsilane skeleton, a new class of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) molecules have been designed and synthesized. Benefiting from the unique tetrahedron architecture of tetraphenylsilane, the intermolecular distance between TADF units can be enlarged and thus weakened the aggregation-induced quenching of triplet excitons. By adjusting the numbers of TADF subunits, the spin-orbit coupling processes can be controlled, leading to efficient up-conversion processes. The related OLEDs are fabricated through the solution processing technology, and pure-blue and green electroluminescence were observed with maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQEmax) of 6.6 and 13.8% as well as Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage coordinates of (0.14, 0.15) and (0.25, 0.45), respectively. This study provides a new idea for designing color-tunable TADF emitters through spatial structure regulation.

External magnetic field-induced circularly polarized luminescence and electroluminescence from optically inactive thermally activated delayed fluorescence material 4CzIPN

An achiral optically inactive organic luminophore, 4CzIPN, exhibits circularly polarized thermally activated delayed fluorescence when photoexcited under an external magnetic field. By embedding this luminophore in an active emission layer, an external-magnetic-field-induced circularly polarized electroluminescent device is developed in this study. The Faraday geometry of the applied magnetic field completely controls the direction of rotation of 4CzIPN-derived circularly polarized luminescence and electroluminescence.

Highly Efficient Luminescence from a Red Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitter with Flexible Conformation of Ancillary Groups

Robust scaffolds were typically applied in thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) molecules to suppress the non-radiative decay, trigger the fast spin-flipping, and enhance the light out-coupling efficiency. Herein, we disclosed for the first time the positive effect of flexible conformation of ancillary groups on the photophysical properties of TADF emitter. The red TADF emitter Ph-TPA with flexible conformation demonstrated small excited-state structural distortion and low reorganization energy compared to the counterpart Mc-TPA with a rigid macrocycle. Consequently, Ph-TPA showed an excellent photoluminescent quantum yield (PLQY) of 92 % and a state-of-the-art external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 30.6 % at 630 nm. This work could deepen our understanding of structure-property relationships of organic luminophores and help us to rationalize the design of efficient TADF materials.

Highly Efficient Electrochemiluminescence from Imidazole-Based Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters

A family of novel thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters has been synthesized by a straightforward and metal-free synthesis, and structurally characterized. In this work we kept the acceptor moiety, 4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)benzonitrile, fixed and systemically tested different donors to correlate their photophysical and electrochemical properties with their performance in electrochemiluminescence using both benzoyl peroxide as co-reactant and co-reactant free (annihilation) conditions. Some compounds exceeded the efficiency of the standard [Ru(bpy)3 ]Cl2 by up to 28 times with benzoyl peroxide and 38 times in annihilation. Interestingly, we found that the efficiency is mainly dictated by the electrochemical reversibility of the redox processes rather than by the photophysical properties in terms of photoluminescence quantum yields or excited-state lifetime. In addition, the annihilation electrochemiluminescence efficiency strongly depends on the pulse sequence. The imidazole moiety can be conveniently alkylated, thus allowing the insertion of functional groups, such a carboxylic acid, and enabling practical applications.

Constructing Highly Efficient Circularly Polarized Multiple-Resonance Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials with Intrinsically Helical Chirality

Advanced circularly polarized multiple-resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (CP-MR-TADF) materials synergize the advantages of circularly polarized luminescence (CPL), narrowband emission, and the TADF characteristic, which can be fabricated into highly efficient circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes (CP-OLEDs) with high color purity, directly facing the urgent market strategic demand of ultrahigh-definition and 3D displays. In this work, based on an edge-topology molecular-engineering (ETME) strategy, a pair of high-performance CP-MR-TADF enantiomers, (P and M)-BN-Py, is developed, which merges the intrinsically helical chirality into the MR framework. The optimized CP-OLEDs with (P and M)-BN-Py emitters and the newly developed ambipolar transport host PhCbBCz exhibit pure green emission with sharp peaks of 532 nm, full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 37 nm, and Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.29, 0.68). Importantly, they achieve remarkable maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of 30.6% and 29.2%, and clear circularly polarized electroluminescence (CPEL) signals with electroluminescence dissymmetry factors (gEL s) of -4.37 × 10-4 and +4.35 × 10-4 for (P)-BN-Py and (M)-BN-Py, respectively.

Phosphine-Oxide-Balanced Intra- and Interchain Through-Space Charge Transfer in Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Polymers: Beyond 30% External Quantum Efficiency

Through-space charge transfer (TSCT) is crucial for developing highly efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence polymers. The balance of intra- and interchain TSCT can markedly improve performance, but it is still a big challenge. In this work, an effective strategy for "intra- and interchain TSCT balance" is demonstrated by way of a series of non-conjugated copolymers containing a 9,9-dimethylacridine donor and triazine-phosphine oxide (PO)-based acceptors. Steady-state and transient emission spectra indicate that compared to the corresponding blends, the copolymers can indeed achieve balanced intra- and interchain TSCT by accurately optimizing the inductive and steric effects of the acceptors. The DPOT acceptor with the strongest electron-withdrawing ability and the second bigger steric hindrance endows its copolymers with state-of-the-art photoluminescence and electroluminescence quantum efficiencies beyond 95% and 32%, respectively. This demonstrates that, compared to other congeners, the synergistic inductive and steric effects effectively enhance TSCT in DPOT-based copolymers for radiation, and suppress singlet and triplet quenching. The record-high efficiencies of its devices make this kind of copolymers hold the potential for low-cost, large-scale, and high-efficiency applications.

RGB Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes toward Realizing the BT.2020 Standard

With the surging demand for ultra-high-resolution displays, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announce the next-generation color gamut standard, named ITU-R Recommendation BT.2020, which not only sets a seductive but challenging milestone for display technologies but also urges researchers to recognize the importance of color coordinates. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are an important display technology in current daily life, but they face challenges in approaching the BT.2020 standard. Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters have bright prospects in OLEDs because they possess 100% theoretical exciton utilization. Thus, the development of TADF emitters emitting primary red (R), green (R), and blue (B) emission is of great significance. Here, a comprehensive overview of the latest advancements in TADF emitters that exhibit Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage (CIE) coordinates surpassing the National Television System Committee (NTSC) and approaching BT.2020 standards is presented. Rational strategies for molecular designs, as well as the resulting photophysical properties and OLED performances, are discussed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms for shifting the CIE coordinates of both donor-acceptor and multiple resonance (MR) typed TADF emitters toward the BT.2020 standard. Finally, the challenges in realization of the wide-color-gamut BT.2020 standard and the prospects for this research area are provided.

Materials for Electrochemiluminescence: TADF, Hydrogen-Bonding, and Aggregation- and Crystallization-Induced Emission Luminophores

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is a rapidly growing discipline with many analytical applications from immunoassays to single-molecule detection. At the forefront of ECL research is materials chemistry, which looks at engineering new materials and compounds exhibiting enhanced ECL efficiencies compared to conventional fluorescent materials. In this review, we summarize recent molecular design strategies that lead to high efficiency ECL. In particular, we feature recent advances in the use of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters to produce enhanced electrochemiluminescence. We also document how hydrogen bonding, aggregation, and crystallization can each be recruited in the design of materials showing enhanced electrochemiluminescence.

Color Stable Deep Blue Multi-Resonance Organic Emitters with Narrow Emission and High Efficiency

The development of highly efficient and deep blue emitters satisfying the color specification of the commercial products has been a challenging hurdle in the organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Here, deep blue OLEDs with a narrow emission spectrum with good color stability and spin-vibronic coupling assisted thermally activated delayed fluorescence are reported using a novel multi-resonance (MR) emitter built on a pure organic-based molecular platform of fused indolo[3,2,1-jk]carbazole structure. Two emitters derived from 2,5,11,14-tetrakis(1,1-dimethylethyl)indolo[3,2,1-jk]indolo[1',2',3':1,7]indolo[3,2-b]carbazole (tBisICz) core are synthesized as the MR type thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters realizing a very narrow emission spectrum with a full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) of 16 nm with suppressed broadening at high doping concentration. The tBisICz core is substituted with a diphenylamine or 9-phenylcarbazole blocking group to manage the intermolecular interaction for high efficiency and narrow emission. The deep blue OLEDs achieve high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 24.9%, small FWHM of 19 nm, and deep blue color coordinate of (0.16, 0.04) with good color stability with increase in doping concentration. To the authors' knowledge, the EQE in this work is one of the highest values reported for the deep blue OLEDs that achieve the BT.2020 standard.

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence and high-contrast mechanochromism of anthrone-based donor-acceptor systems

The development of materials that emit in the deep-red to near-infrared region of the spectrum has attracted significant attention due to their potential as optical sensing and imaging reagents in biology. Herein, we report the synthesis and optoelectronic characterization of four anthraquinone-based emitters, T-tBuCz-AQ, T-MeOCz-AQ, C-tBuCz-AQ, and C-MeOCz-AQ, and two pyrazoloanthrone-based emitters, tBuCz-PA and DMAC-PA. Depending on the donor, these compounds emit in the spectral range between 640 and 750 nm in the neat film, while the emission of the 10 wt% doped films in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is blue-shifted between 600 and 700 nm and has low photoluminescence quantum yields between 2.6% and 6.6%. Of these compounds, T-tBuCz-AQ, T-MeOCz-AQ, and C-tBuCz-AQ exhibited thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) in 10 wt% doped films in PMMA, while the crystals of T-tBuCz-AQ also showed TADF. Compound tBuCz-PA showed a high-contrast and reversible photoluminescence (PL) response upon mechanical grinding and hexane fuming.

Doping-Free Phosphorescent and Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with an Ultra-Thin Emission Layer

We report the electroluminescence (EL) characteristics of blue ultra-thin emissive layer (U-EML) phosphorescent (PH) organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) OLED. A variety of transport layer (TL) materials were used in the fabricated OLEDs. The well-known FIrpic and DMAC-DPS were used with a thickness of 0.3 nm, which is relatively thicker than the optimal thickness (0.15 nm) of the blue phosphorescent ultra-thin emissive layer to ensure sufficient energy transfer. While FIrpic showed overall high efficiency in various TLs, DMAC-DPS exhibited three times lower efficiency in limited TLs. To clarify/identify low efficiency and to improve the EL, the thickness of DMAC-DPS was varied. A significantly higher and comparable efficiency was observed with a thickness of 4.5 nm, which is 15 times thicker. This thickness was oriented from the TADF itself, which reduces quenching in a triplet-triplet annihilation compared to the PH process. The thinner optimal thickness compared with ~30 nm of fluorescent OLEDs suggests that there still is quenching taking place. We expect that the efficiency of TADF U-EML OLEDs can be enhanced through further research on controlling the exciton quenching using multiple U-EMLs with spacers and a novel material with a high energy transfer rate (ΔES-T).

Enhanced Operational Stability by Cavity Control of Single-Layer Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Based on Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence

Highly efficient organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters are realized in recent years, but the device lifetime needs further improvement for practical display or lighting applications. In this work, a device design principle is presented by tuning the optical cavity of single-layer undoped devices, to realize efficient and long-lived TADF OLEDs. Extending the cavity length to the second-order interference maximum by increasing the emissive layer thickness broadens the recombination zone, while the optical outcoupling efficiency remains close to that of the thinner first-order devices. Such a device design leads to efficient and stable single-layer undoped OLEDs with a maximum external quantum efficiency of 16%, an LT90 of 452 h, and an LT50 of 3693 h at an initial luminance of 1000 cd m-2 , which is doubled compared to the first-order counterparts. It is further demonstrated that the widely-used empirical relation between OLED lifetime and light intensity originates from triplet-polaron annihilation, resulting in an extrapolated LT50 at 100 cd m-2 of close to 90 000 h, approaching the demands for practical backlight applications.

Indolocarbazoles with Sterically Unrestricted Electron-Accepting Anchors Showcasing Aggregation-Induced Thermally Activated Delayed Mechanoluminescence for Host-Free Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

We investigated the effects of sterically nonrestricted electron-accepting substituents of three isomeric indolocarbazole derivatives on their aggregation-induced emission enhancement, mechanochromic luminescence and thermally activated delayed fluorescence. The compounds are potentially efficient emitters for host-free organic light-emitting diodes. The films of indolocarbazole derivatives exhibit emissions with wavelengths of fluorescence intensity maxima from 483 to 500 nm and photoluminescence quantum yields from 31 to 58%. The ionization potentials of the solid samples, measured by photoelectron emission spectrometry, are in the narrow range of 5.78-5.99 eV. The electron affinities of the solid samples are in the range of 2.99-3.19 eV. The layers of the derivatives show diverse charge-transporting properties with maximum hole mobility reaching 10-4 cm2/Vs at high electric fields. An organic light-emitting diode with a light-emitting layer of neat compound shows a turn-on voltage of 4.1 V, a maximum brightness of 24,800 cd/m2, a maximum current efficiency of 12.5 cd/A and an external quantum efficiency of ca. 4.8%. When the compounds are used as hosts, green electroluminescent devices with an external quantum efficiency of ca. 11% are obtained. The linking topology of the isomeric derivatives of indolo[2,3-a]carbazole and indolo[3,2-b]carbazole and the electron-accepting anchors influences their properties differently, such as aggregation-induced emission enhancement, mechanochromic luminescence, thermally activated delayed fluorescence, charge-transporting, and electroluminescent properties. The derivative indolo[3,2-b]carbazole displays good light-emitting properties, while the derivatives of indolo[2,3-a]carbazole show good hosting properties, which make them useful for application in electroluminescent devices.

Rational Design of Highly Efficient Orange-Red/Red Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters with Submicrosecond Emission Lifetimes

The development of orange-red/red thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials with both high emission efficiencies and short lifetimes is highly desirable for electroluminescence (EL) applications, but remains a formidable challenge owing to the strict molecular design principles. Herein, two new orange-red/red TADF emitters, namely AC-PCNCF3 and TAC-PCNCF3, composed of pyridine-3,5-dicarbonitrile-derived electron-acceptor (PCNCF3) and acridine electron-donors (AC/TAC) are developed. These emitters in doped films exhibit excellent photophysical properties, including high photoluminescence quantum yields of up to 0.91, tiny singlet-triplet energy gaps of 0.01 eV, and ultrashort TADF lifetimes of less than 1 µs. The TADF-organic light-emitting diodes employing the AC-PCNCF3 as emitter achieve orange-red and red EL with high external quantum efficiencies of up to 25.0% and nearly 20% at doping concentrations of 5 and 40 wt%, respectively, both accompanied by well-suppressed efficiency roll-offs. This work provides an efficient molecular design strategy for developing high-performance red TADF materials.

Engineering the Macrocyclic Donor Structures towards Deep-Blue Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters

Deep-blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) molecules present promising potential in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), especially for display applications. Here, an efficient molecular engineering approach to modifying the donor or acceptor features of the D-π-A-configured TADF molecules for deep-blue emission is reported. By introducing oxygen and sulfone as a bridge unit onto the macrocyclic donor, two emitters, c-ON-MeTRZ and c-NS-MeTRZ, are synthesized and characterized, respectively. The reduced donor strength of c-ON-MeTRZ and c-NS-MeTRZ as compared to that of the model molecule c-NN-MeTRZ leads to blue-shifted emissions with high photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) and retains TADF characters, while the new emitter c-NN-MePym with the most blue-shifted emission only exhibits a pure fluorescent nature because of the electron-accepting feature of pyrimidine that is insufficient for inducing the TADF property. In the presence of macrocyclic donors, these new emitters show high horizontal dipole ratios (Θ_// = 85-89%), which are beneficial for improving the light out-coupling efficiency. Deep-blue TADF OLEDs incorporating c-ON-MeTRZ as an emitter doped in the mCPCN host achieves a high maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE_max) of 30.2% together with 1931 Commission Internationale de I'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.14, 0.13), while the counter device employing c-NS-MeTRZ as a dopant gives EQE_max of 15.4% and CIE coordinates of (0.14, 0.09). The EQE_max of c-ON-MeTRZ- and c-NS-MeTRZ-based devices can be significantly improved to 34.4 and 29.3%, respectively, with a polar host DPEPO, which stabilizes the charge transfer (CT) S₁ state to give lower ΔE_ST for improving the reverse intersystem crossing process. The efficient TADF character, high PLQYs, and high anisotropic emission dipole ratios work together to render the superior electroluminescence (EL) efficiencies. Based on the detailed characterizations of physical properties, theoretical analyses, and comprehensive study on the corresponding devices, a clear structure-property-performance relationship has been successfully established to verify the effective molecular design strategy of modulating the macrocyclic donor characters for efficient deep-blue TADF emitters.

Creation of Dual Thermally Activated Delayed-Fluorescence Exciplexes in a Bulk Emitting Layer and Its Interface with an Electron Transport Layer for Promoting the Performance of Thermally Activated Delayed-Fluorescence Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Fabricated by a Solution Process

An exciplex, which is composed of electron donor and acceptor molecules and formed by intermolecular charge transfer, is an excited-state species that is able to emit light or transfer its energy to a lower-energy emitter. In reported exciplex-based organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), their working mechanism is to generate exciplexes either in the bulk emitting layer (bulk exciplex) or at its interface with an electron transport layer (interface exciplex); both types give promising device performance. Here, we propose a novel strategy of creating both types of exciplexes simultaneously (dual exciplexes) for the generation of more exciplexes for better device performance as indicated in the improved photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). Impressively, the dual exciplex-based device with blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitter 9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydroacridine-2,4,6-triphenyl-1,3,5-triazine (DMAC-TRZ) exhibits a record-high maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE_max) of 26.7% among the solution-processed TADF blue OLEDs. By further doping with the red-emitting phosphor emitter into the EML, the white device also gives a record-high EQE_max of 24.1% among the solution-processed TADF-phosphor hybrid white OLEDs (T-P WOLEDs) with the Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.34, 0.42), color rendering index of 70, and correlated color temperature of 5198 K. Furthermore, both blue and white devices show an ultralow efficiency roll-off with external quantum efficiencies at a practical brightness value of 1000 cd m^-2 (EQE₁₀₀₀) of 25.1 and 23.9%, respectively. This is the first report of employing a dual exciplex-based OLED with excellent device performance.

Tröger's Base-Derived Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Dopant for Efficient Deep-Blue Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

The development of efficient deep-blue emitters with thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) properties is a highly significant but challenging task in the field of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) applications. Herein, we report the design and synthesis of two new 4,10-dimethyl-6H,12H-5,11-methanodibenzo[b,f][1,5]diazocine (TB)-derived TADF emitters, TB-BP-DMAC and TB-DMAC, which feature distinct benzophenone (BP)-derived acceptors but share the same dimethylacridin (DMAC) donors. Our comparative study reveals that the amide acceptor in TB-DMAC exhibits a significantly weaker electron-withdrawing ability in comparison to that of the typical benzophenone acceptor employed in TB-BP-DMAC. This disparity not only causes a noticeable blue shift in the emission from green to deep blue but also enhances the emission efficiency and the reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) process. As a result, TB-DMAC emits efficient deep-blue delay fluorescence with a photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 50.4% and a short lifetime of 2.28 μs in doped film. The doped and non-doped OLEDs based on TB-DMAC display efficient deep-blue electroluminescence with spectral peaks at 449 and 453 nm and maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of 6.1% and 5.7%, respectively. These findings indicate that substituted amide acceptors are a viable option for the design of high-performance deep-blue TADF materials.

Realizing High-Efficiency Orange-Red Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials through the Construction of Intramolecular Noncovalent Interactions

The development of highly efficient orange and red thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials for constructing full-color and white organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) remains insufficient because of the formidable challenges in molecular design, such as the severe radiationless decay and the intrinsic trade-off between the efficiencies of radiative decay and reverse intersystem crossing (RISC). Herein, we design two high-efficiency orange and orange-red TADF molecules by constructing intermolecular noncovalent interactions. This strategy could not only ensure high emission efficiency via suppression of the nonradiative relaxation and enhancement of the radiative transition but also create intermediate triplet excited states to ensure the RISC process. Both emitters exhibit typical TADF characteristics, with a fast radiative rate and a low nonradiative rate. Photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) of the orange (TPA-PT) and orange-red (DMAC-PT) materials reach up to 94 and 87%, respectively. Benefiting from the excellent photophysical properties and stability, OLEDs based on these TADF emitters realize orange to orange-red electroluminescence with high external quantum efficiencies reaching 26.2%. The current study demonstrates that the introduction of intermolecular noncovalent interactions is a feasible strategy for designing highly efficient orange to red TADF materials.

Boron-Dipyrromethene-Based Fluorescent Emitters Enable High-Performance Narrowband Red Organic Light-Emitting Didoes

Narrowband organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are receiving significant attention and have demonstrated impressive performance in blue and green OLEDs. However, developing high-performance narrowband red OLEDs remains a highly desired yet challenging task. Herein, we have developed narrowband red fluorescent emitters by utilizing a boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) skeleton in combination with a methyl-shield strategy. These emitters exhibit small full-width at half-maxima (FWHM) ranging from 21 nm (0.068 eV) to 25 nm (0.081 eV) and high photoluminescence quantum yields (ΦPL) ranging from 88.5% to 99.0% in toluene solution. Using BODIPY-based luminescent materials as emitters, high-performance narrowband red OLEDs have been assembled with external quantum efficiency as high as 18.3% at 623 nm and 21.1% at 604 nm. This work represents, to our knowledge, the first successful case of achieving NTSC pure-red OLEDs with the Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage (CIE) coordinates of [0.67, 0.33] based on conventional fluorescent emitters.

Energy-Efficient Stable Hyperfluorescence Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with Improved Color Purities and Ultrahigh Power Efficiencies Based on Low-Polar Sensitizing Systems

Multi-resonance (MR) molecules with thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) are emerging as promising candidates for high-definition displays because of their narrow emission spectra. However, the electroluminescence (EL) efficiencies and spectra of MR-TADF molecules are highly sensitive to hosts and sensitizers when applied to organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and the highly polar environments in devices often lead to significantly broadened EL spectra. In this study, a proof-of-concept TADF sensitizer (BTDMAC-XT) with low polarity, high steric hindrance, and concentration-quenching free feature is constructed, which acts as a good emitter in doped and non-doped OLEDs with high external quantum efficiencies (η_ext s) of 26.7% and 29.3%, respectively. By combining BTDMAC-XT with conventional low-polarity hosts, low-polarity sensitizing systems with a small carrier injection barrier and full exciton utilization are constructed for the MR-TADF molecule BN2. Hyperfluorescence (HF) OLEDs employing the low-polar sensitizing systems successfully improve the color quality of BN2 and afford an excellent η_ext of 34.4%, a record-high power efficiency of 166.3 lm W^-1 and a long operational lifetime (LT₅₀  = 40309 h) at an initial luminance of 100 cd m^-2 . These results provide instructive guidance for the sensitizer design and device optimization for energy-efficient and stable HF-OLEDs with high-quality light.

Facile Tuned TSCT-TADF in Donor-Acceptor MOF for Highly Adjustable Photonic Modules based on Heterostructures Crystals

Highly adjustable photonic modules were constructed based on the heterostructures crystals of a new series of donor-acceptor metal-organic framework (D-A MOF) featuring highly tunable thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). By introducing N-phenylcarbazoleand derivatives as donor guests into the acceptor host NKU-111, highly tunable through-space charge transfer based TADF could be achieved through the engineering of heavy atom effect , which result in modulatable emission wavelength (540 to 600 nm) and enhanced quantum yield  (up to 30.86%). Furthermore, by rationally integrating the D- A MOFs with distinctive TADF emissions, rod-like heterostructures crystals featuring excitation position dependent tip emissions in wide wavelength range (495 to 598 nm) could be fabricated, which could serve as highly potential photonic modules for photonic circuit applications.

Rational Molecular Design Strategy for Host Materials in Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence-OLEDs Suitable for Solution Processing

Herein, a novel core molecule for V-shaped host molecules was synthesized, wherein two carbazoles were directly linked to cyclohexane. Cy-mCP and Cy-mCBP hosts were also successfully prepared for solution-processable thermally activated delayed fluorescence organic light-emitting diodes (TADF-OLEDs). The Cy-mCP and Cy-mCBP molecules contained a cyclohexane linker directly linked to two small molecular hosts (mCP and mCBP), exhibiting twice the molecular weight while maintaining the basic properties of a single host molecule with improved film-forming ability and solubility in organic solvents. These host materials showed superior thermal stability and high glass transition temperatures compared to lower molecular weight hosts. Green TADF-OLEDs were prepared using the two host materials and 2,4,5,6-tetra(3,6-di-tert-butylcarbazol-9-yl)-1,3-dicyanobenzene (t4CzIPN) emitter, achieving device efficiencies similar to that of a low-molecular-weight host. However, after the incorporation of a V-shaped host, superior characteristics were observed in terms of the thermal stability and operational stability of the device. The synthesis of V-shaped molecules by directly linking two carbazoles to a cyclohexane linker is promising for the development of different hosts for solution-processable OLEDs.

Tailoring Carbene-Metal-Amides for Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence: A Computationally Guided Study on the Effect of Cyclic (Alkyl)(amino)carbenes

Gold-centered carbene-metal-amides (CMAs) containing cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbenes (CAACs) are promising emitters for thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). Aiming at the design and optimization of new TADF emitters, we report a density functional theory study of over 60 CMAs with various CAAC ligands, systematically evaluating computed parameters in relation to photoluminescence properties. The CMA structures were primarily selected based on experimental synthesis prospects. We demonstrate that TADF efficiency of the CMA materials originates from a compromise between oscillator strength coefficients and exchange energy (ΔE_ST). The latter is governed by the overlap of HOMO and LUMO orbitals, where HOMO is localized on the amide and LUMO over the Au-carbene bond. The S₀ ground and excited T₁ states of the CMAs adopt approximately coplanar geometry of carbene and amide ligands, but rotate perpendicular in the excited S₁ states, resulting in degeneracy or near-degeneracy of S₁ and T₁, accompanied by a decrease in the S₁-S₀ oscillator strength from its maximum at coplanar geometries to near zero at rotated geometries. Based on the computations, promising new TADF emitters are proposed and synthesized. Bright CMA complex (^Et2CAAC)Au(carbazolide) is obtained and fully characterized in order to demonstrate that excellent stability and high radiative rates up to 10⁶ s^-1 can be obtained for the gold-CMA complexes with small CAAC-carbene ligands.

Azaborine as a Versatile Weak Donor for Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence

Extensive research has been devoted to the development of thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters, especially those showing pure-blue emission for use in lighting and full-color display applications. Toward that goal, herein we report a novel weak donor, 1,4-azaborine (AZB), with complementary electronic and structural properties compared to the widely used dimethylacridan (DMAC) or carbazole (Cz) donors. Coupled with a triazine acceptor, AZB-Ph-TRZ is the direct structural analogue of the high-performance and well-studied green TADF emitter DMAC-TRZ and has ΔE_ST = 0.39 eV, a photoluminescence quantum yield (Φ_PL) of 27%, and λ_PL = 415 nm in 10 wt % doped mCP films. The shortened analogue AZB-TRZ possesses red-shifted emission with a reduced singlet-triplet gap (ΔE_ST = 0.01 eV) and fast reverse intersystem crossing (k_RISC of 5 × 10⁶ s^-1) in mCP. Despite a moderate Φ_PL of 34%, OLEDs with AZB-TRZ in mCP showed sky-blue emission with CIE₁₉₃₁(x,y) of (0.22,0.39) and a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE_max) of 10.5%. Expanding the chemist's toolkit for the design of blue donor-acceptor TADF materials will enable yet further advances in the future, as AZB is paired with a wider range of acceptor groups.

Enhancing Triplet-Triplet Upconversion Efficiency and Operational Lifetime in Blue Organic Light-Emitting Diodes by Utilizing Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials

In the process of triplet-triplet upconversion (TTU), a bright excited singlet can be generated because of the collision of two dark excited triplets. In particular, the efficiency of TTU is crucial for achieving a high exciton production yield in blue fluorescence organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) beyond the theoretical limit. While the theoretical upper limit of TTU contribution yield is expected to be 60%, blue OLEDs with the maximum TTU contribution are still scarce. Herein, we present a proof of concept for realizing the maximum TTU contribution yield in blue OLEDs, achieved through the doping of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) molecules in the carrier recombination zone. The bipolar carrier transport ability of TADF materials enables direct carrier recombination on the molecules, resulting in the expansion of the recombination zone. Although the external electroluminescence quantum efficiency of OLEDs is slightly lower than that of conventional TTU-OLEDs due to the low photoluminescence quantum yield of the doped layer, the TTU efficiency approaches the upper limit. Furthermore, the operational device lifetime of OLEDs employing TADF molecules increased by five times compared to the conventional ones, highlighting the expansion of the recombination zone as a crucial factor for enhancing overall OLED performance in TTU-OLEDs.

Modulating Emission of Boric Acid into Highly Efficient and Color-Tunable Afterglow via Dehydration-Induced Through-Space Conjugation

Inorganic boric acid (BA) is generally not considered an efficient afterglow material, and several groups have reported its extremely weak room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) in the blue spectral region. It is discovered that heat treatment of BA results in increased afterglow intensity (27-fold increase) and prolonged emission lifetime (from 0.83 to 1.59 s), attributed to enhanced through-space conjugation (TSC) of BA. The afterglow intensity of BA can be increased further (≈415 folds) by introducing p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHA), which contains a conjugated molecular motif, to further promote the TSC of the BA system. This combination results in the production of afterglow materials with a photoluminescence quantum yield of 83.8% and an emission lifetime of 2.01 s. In addition, a tunable multicolor afterglow in the 420-490 nm range is achieved owing to the enhancement of the RTP and thermally activated delayed fluorescence of PHA, where BA exerts a confinement effect on the guest molecules. Thus, this study demonstrates promising afterglow materials produced from extremely abundant and simple precursor materials for various applications.