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Highly efficient through-space charge transfer TADF molecule employed in TADF- and TADF-sensitized organic light-emitting diodes

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Abstract

The inception and harnessing of excitons are paramount for the electroluminescence performance of organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs). Through-space charge transfer (TSCT) via intramolecular interaction has proved to be one of the most potent techniques employed to achieve 100% internal quantum efficiency. However, molecular strategies utilized to comprehensively enhance the electroluminescent performance of TSCT emitters regarding improving the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and elevating the light out-coupling efficiency remain arduous. To surmount this challenge, we deliberately designed and synthesized a proof-of-concept TSCT emitter called CzO-TRZ by incorporating an extra carbazole donor into spiro-heterocyclic architecture. The introduction of rigid spiral fragments can immensely boost the horizontal orientation dipole ratio and establish an extra through-bond charge transfer (TBCT) radiative decay channel. As a result, a very high PLQY of 98.7%, fast kRISC of 2.2×105 s−1 and high krs of 2.2×107 s−1, and an ultrahigh horizontal dipolar ratio of 90% were concurrently achieved for CzO-TRZ blended films. Furthermore, corresponding thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF)- and TADF-sensitized fluorescence (TSF)-OLEDs based on CzO-TRZ demonstrated external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of 33.4% and 30.3%, respectively, highlighting its versatile applications as both an emitter and sensitized host.

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Acknowledgements This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U21A20331, 51773212, 81903743, 52003088), the Distinguished Young Scholars (21925506) and the Ningbo Key Scientific and Technological Project (2022Z124, 2022Z119).

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zhejiang Provincial Engineering Research Center of Energy Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, 315201, China

    Jiasen Zhang, Wei Li, Yujie Wu, Xilin Mu, Chunyu Liu, Kaibo Fang & Ziyi Ge

  2. Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jiasen Zhang, Wei Li, Yujie Wu, Xilin Mu, Chunyu Liu, Kaibo Fang & Ziyi Ge

  3. State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices and Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Deli Li

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  1. Jiasen Zhang
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  3. Wei Li
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Correspondence to Wei Li or Ziyi Ge.

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Supporting information The supporting information is available online at chem.scichina.com and link.springer.com/journal/11426. The supporting materials are published as submitted, without typesetting or editing. The responsibility for scientific accuracy and content remains entirely with the authors.

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Highly efficient Through-space Charge Transfer TADF Molecule Employed in TADF- and TADF-sensitized Organic Light-emitting Diodes

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Zhang, J., Li, D., Li, W. et al. Highly efficient through-space charge transfer TADF molecule employed in TADF- and TADF-sensitized organic light-emitting diodes. Sci. China Chem. 67, 1270–1276 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-023-1894-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-023-1894-1

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