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Electroluminescence performances of 1,1-bis(4-(N,N-dimethylamino)phenyl)-2,3,4,5-tetraphenylsilole based polymers in three cathode architectures

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Abstract

A new silole monomer with two 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)phenyl substitutions on silicon atom as designed and synthesized. Three copolymers PF-N-HPS1, PF-N-HPS10 and PF-N-HPS20 were then obtained by copolymerizations of 2,7-fluorene derivatives with the silole monomer at feed ratios of 1%, 10%, and 20%. Their UV-vis absorption, electrochemical, photoluminescent, and electroluminescent (EL) properties were investigated. PF-N-HPS possessed HOMO levels of −5.25–−5.58 eV, and showed green emissions. Using PF-N-HPS as the emissive layer, three different polymer light-emitting diodes were fabricated as device A with ITO/PEDOT/PF-N-HPS/Al, device B with ITO/PEDOT/PF-N-HPS/Ba/Al, and device C with ITO/PEDOT/PF-N-HPS/TPBI/Ba/Al. For the device A, PF-N-HPS only showed very low EL efficiency of 0.06–0.33 cd/A, indicating that the Al cathode could not inject electron efficiently to the emissive polymers containing the 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)phenyl groups. For the device B, low work function Ba supplied better electron injections, and the EL efficiency could be improved to 0.85–1.44 cd/A. TPBI with a deep HOMO level of −6.2 eV could enhance electron transport and hole blocking. Thus modified recombinations and largely elevated EL efficiency of 4.56–7.96 cd/A were achieved for the device C. The separation of the emissive layer and metal cathode with the TPBI layer may also suppress exciton quenching at the cathode interface.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials & Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    ZhiTian Liu, SuJun Hu, JunWu Chen, JunBiao Peng & Yong Cao

  2. School of Materials Science & Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, 430073, China

    ZhiTian Liu & LinHua Zhang

Authors
  1. ZhiTian Liu
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  2. SuJun Hu
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  3. LinHua Zhang
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  4. JunWu Chen
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  5. JunBiao Peng
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  6. Yong Cao
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Correspondence to JunWu Chen.

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Recommended by QIU Yong (Tsinghua University)

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Liu, Z., Hu, S., Zhang, L. et al. Electroluminescence performances of 1,1-bis(4-(N,N-dimethylamino)phenyl)-2,3,4,5-tetraphenylsilole based polymers in three cathode architectures. Sci. China Chem. 56, 1129–1136 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-013-4875-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-013-4875-z

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