Synthesis and photo-electrochemical properties of novel thienopyrazine and quinoxaline derivatives,and their dye-sensitized solar cell performance

Light absorption from visible to NIR region is required to increase the photocurrent and to enhance the photo-energy conversion efficiencies in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We have now developed novel thienopyrazine dye TP1 which has absorption up to 700 nm. Quinoxaline dye QX2 with absorption at shorter wavelengths than TP1 has been synthesized for comparisons. The power conversion efficiencies of DSSCs with TP1 and QX2 showed 4.4% and 3.2%, respectively. The absorption edge in IPCE of TP1 reached 800 nm and the open circuit voltage (Voc) of QX2 was high (0.77 V). To improve the device performances, QX2 was used as a co-adsorbent dye with TP1. In the mixed sensitizer based DSSC, a high power conversion efficiency of 6.2% was achieved due to the effective light harvesting and steric effect of QX2.     

A new multicolored and near-infrared electrochromic material based on triphenylamine-containing poly(3,4-dithienylpyrrole)

A new compound containing both 3,4-dithienylpyrrole (DTP) and triphenylamine (TPA) groups, namely, 4′-(2,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)-1H-pyrrol-1-yl)-N,N-diphenylbiphenyl-4-amine (DTP-Ph-TPA), was designed and synthesized. The polymer poly-DTP-Ph-TPA (PDTP-Ph-TPA) was prepared by electropolymerization from DTP-Ph-TPA. When the applied potential circulates from 0.0 V to 1.4 V, the polymer not only exhibits reversible multicolor in the visible region (yellow, light green, magenta and blue), but also shows excellent electrochromic properties in the NIR region with high contrast ratio (ΔT = 70.5% in 1550 nm, ΔT = 67.9% in 1310 nm) and a very short response time (about 1.4 s for 1550 nm, 0.9 s for 1310 nm). A single layer electrochromic device (ECD) based on polymer PDTP-Ph-TPA was constructed and characterized.     

Efficient blue emitters based on 1,3,5-triazine for nondoped organic light emitting diode applications

Two novel efficient blue emitters (TTT-1, TTT-2) containing 1,3,5-triazine, thiophene and triphenylamine have been designed and synthesized. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) using these new triazine derivatives as emissive layers, ITO/TAPC (60 nm)/TTT-1 (Device A) or TTT-2 (Device B) (40 nm)/TPBi (60 nm)/LiF (1 nm)/Al (100 nm), were fabricated and tested. The OLEDs exhibited good performances with low turn-on voltage of 3 V, maximum luminance of ca. 8990 cd/m² for TTT-1 and 15,980 cd/m² for TTT-2, and maximum luminance efficiency of 4.7 cd/A for TTT-1 and 4.0 cd/A for TTT-2, respectively.     

Triphenylamine modified bis-diketopyrrolopyrrole molecular donor materials with extended conjugation for bulk heterojunction solar cells

Two new solution-processable enlarged π-conjugated donor–acceptor (D–A) organic small molecules consisting of dialkoxysubstituted benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene (BDT) or dioctyltertthiophene (3T) as the central donor units, diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) as the acceptor unit and triphenylamine (TPA) as the terminal conjugated segment, TPA–DPP–BDT and TPA–DPP–3T, were designed and synthesized. Both small molecules possess broad absorption ranging from 300 to 800 nm with an optical band at approximately 1.50 eV and relatively low HOMO energy levels from −5.12 to approximately −5.16 eV. Expectedly, the UV–Vis absorption onset (810 nm) of TPA–DPP–BDT is largely red-shifted (60 nm) relative to that (750 nm) of previously reported BDT(TDPP)₂, which consists of BDT and DPP units. Unlike most of the TPA based molecules, strong molecular aggregation was observed in the solid state for both small molecules. In addition, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigations indicated that TPA–DPP–3T and TPA–DPP–BDT exhibit good miscibility with fullerene derivatives. The organic solar cells based on TPA–DPP–BDT/PC₆₁BM(1:1) demonstrated power conversion efficiencies as high as 4.04% with a short-circuit current density (J_sc) of 11.40 mA cm⁻² and a fill factor (FF) of 53.2% when the active layer of the cell was annealed at 130 °C for 10 min.     

Enhanced performance of dye-sensitized solar cells with novel 2,6-diphenyl-4H-pyranylidene dyes

Novel 2,6-diphenyl-4H-pyranylidene derivatives were designed and synthesized as dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Dyes 2a, b with a phenyl substituent showed high DSSC energy conversion efficiencies of 5.3% (J_sc = 10.3 mA/cm², V_oc = 0.72 V, FF = 0.72) and 4.7% (J_sc = 8.9 mA/cm², V_oc = 0.73 V, FF = 0.72) at 100 mW/cm² under simulated AM 1.5 G solar light conditions. These values are twice better than that of dye 1 without the phenyl substituent under the same conditions. Both the photocurrent density (J_sc) and open circuit voltage (V_oc) of DSSCs based on dyes 2a, b are increased compared with 1. It can be attributed to their twisted structures, absorption abilities and proper energy levels. This result shows that the tetraphenylpyranylidene is a promising electron-donor unit for high-efficiency DSSCs.     

Effect of dendron generation on properties of self-host heteroleptic green light-emitting iridium dendrimers

A series of self-host heteroleptic green light-emitting iridium (Ir) dendrimers G1 and G2 have been synthesized under mild conditions with high yields, and their photophysical, electrochemical and electroluminescent properties are investigated in detail. Compared with the model compound G0, both G1 and G2 exhibit similar photophysical and electrochemical properties, indicating that the incorporation of carbazole dendrons via a flexible non-conjugated spacer can retain the independence of the emissive Ir core. However, the device performance gradually increases with the increasing dendron generation due to the reduced intermolecular interactions. As a result, a peak luminous efficiency of 17.2 cd/A has been obtained for the G2-based non-doped device, which is about 6 times that of G0. Further dispersing the dendrimer G2 into a host matrix, the efficiency can be improved to 29.2 cd/A.     

Porphyrins modified with a low-band-gap chromophore for dye-sensitized solar cells

Two novel porphyrin dyes (PMBTZ and PHBTZ) modified with alkyl-thiophene and 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BTZ) moieties were designed and synthesized. The optical and electrochemical properties were characterized by UV-visible, fluorescence spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. With the introduction of the low-band-gap chromophore onto the porphyrins, the absorption spectra of the two porphyrin dyes in the range of 450-600 nm were broadened and the maximum wavelength was red-shifted compared with P_Zn as expected. The first oxidation potentials (E_ox1) were altered to the negative, which lowered from 1.27 to 1.11 and 1.15 eV, respectively. For a typical solar cell device based on dye PMBTZ, the maximal monochromatic incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) can reach to 65%, with a broad respondent region of 350-800 nm. Under standard global AM 1.5 solar condition, the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) based on the dye PMBTZ showed the best photovoltaic performance: a short-circuit photocurrent density (J_sc) of 14.11 mA/cm², an open-circuit photo voltage (V_oc) of 0.59 V, and a fill factor (ff) of 0.66, corresponding to solar-to-electric power conversion efficiency (η) of 5.46%.     

Synthesis and characterization of triphenylamine flanked thiazole-based small molecules for high performance solution processed organic solar cells

Two new small molecules, 5,5-bis(2-triphenylamino-3-decylthiophen-2-yl)-2,2-bithiazole (M1) and 2,5-bis(2-triphenylamino-3-decylthiophen-2-yl)thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole (M2) based on an electron-donor triphenylamine unit and electron-acceptor thiophene-thiazolothiazole or thiophene-bithiazole units were synthesized by a palladium(0)-catalyzed Suzuki coupling reaction and examined as donor materials for application in organic solar cells. The small molecules had an absorption band in the range of 300-560 nm, with an optical band gap of 2.22 and 2.25 for M1 and M2, respectively_. As determined by cyclic voltammetry, the highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels of M1 were −5.27 eV and −3.05 eV, respectively, which were 0.05 eV and 0.02 eV greater than that of M2. Photovoltaic properties of the small molecules were investigated by constructing bulk-heterojunction organic solar cell (OSC) devices using M1 and M2 as donors and fullerene derivatives, 6,6-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC₆₁BM) and 6,6-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁BM) as acceptors with the device architecture ITO/PEDOT:PSS/M1 or M2:PCBM/LiF/Al. The effect of the small molecule/fullerene weight ratio, active layer thickness, and processing solvent were carefully investigated to improve the performance of the OSCs. Under AM 1.5 G 100 mW/cm² illumination, the optimized OSC device with M1 and PC₇₁BM at a weight ratio of 1:3 delivered a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 1.30%, with a short circuit current of 4.63 mA/cm², an open circuit voltage of 0.97 V, and a fill factor of 0.29. In contrast, M2 produced a better performance under identical device conditions. A PCE as high as 2.39% was recorded, with a short circuit current of 6.49 mA/cm², an open circuit voltage of 0.94 V, and a fill factor of 0.39.     

Small molecules based on bithiazole for solution-processed organic solar cells

A series of donor-acceptor-donor small molecules (1-3) with bithiazole as acceptor unit, triphenylamine as donor unit and thiophene with different number (0, 1, 2) as bridge were synthesized by palladium(0)-catalyzed Suzuki or Stille coupling reactions. The thermal, optical, electrochemical, charge transport, and photovoltaic properties of these small molecules were examined. All compounds exhibit excellent thermal stability with decomposition temperatures (5% weight loss) over 390 °C in nitrogen atmosphere. As increasing the number of thiophene and π-conjugation length of molecule, the absorption maximum in film red shifts from 406 to 498 nm, the extinction coefficient increases from 1.35 × 10⁴ to 7.66 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ cm⁻¹, and the optical band gap decreases from 2.6 to 2.0 eV. The electron-donating thiophene and bithiophene in compounds 2 and 3 up-shift HOMO energy level from −5.42 (1) to −5.24 eV (2) or −5.22 eV (3), and down-shift LUMO energy level from −2.48 (1) to −2.84 eV (2) or −2.81 eV (3). The hole mobility of compound 3 is up to 3.6 × 10⁻⁴ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, which is one order of magnitude higher than that of compound 2, but compound 1 shows no field-effect transistor performance. Solution-processed bulk heterojunction organic solar cells based on 1-3:PC₇₁BM (1:4, w/w) blend films exhibit increasing power conversion efficiency (up to 2.61%) as increasing thiophene unit number.     

Carbazole and benzimidazole/oxadiazole hybrids as bipolar host materials for sky blue,green, and red PhOLEDs

Two novel bipolar host materials (CBzIm and COxaPh) comprising of a hole-transport (HT) carbazole core functionalized with electron-transport (ET) moieties (benzimidazole/oxadiazole) at C3 and C6 positions have been synthesized. Their thermal, photophysical, electrochemical properties, and carrier mobilities were characterized. Theoretical calculations revealed that the HOMO orbitals were generally delocalized over the hole- and electron-transport moieties for both CBzIm and COxaPh, whereas the LUMO orbitals distribution only involved one benzimidazole moiety in CBzIm instead of fully delocalization over the whole polar moieties for COxaPh, which is consistent with the observation of good hole mobilities for both hosts and better electron mobility for COxaPh over CBzIm. CBzIm with high E_T (2.76 eV) is suitable to serve as a blue phosphor host, where a sky blue phosphor (DFPPM)₂Irpic exhibiting superior properties than those of popular blue emitter FIrpic was used to give highly efficient phosphorescent OLEDs, achieving a maximum external quantum efficiency (η_ext) of 15.7%. The better π-delocalization of COxaPh led to a lower triplet energy (E_T = 2.65 eV), which can be used to accommodate green and red phosphors, providing excellent device performance with η_ext as high as 17.7% for green [(ppy)₂Ir(acac)] and 20.6% for red [Os(bpftz)₂(PPh₂Me)₂], respectively.     

UV light-emitting electrochemical cells based on an ionic 2,2′-bifluorene derivative

UV light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) were, for the first time, achieved by the ionic 2,2′-bifluorene derivative, 1, which was synthesized through covalent tethering of methylimidazolium moieties as pendent groups. LEC devices incorporating ionic bifluorene 1 without (Device I) and with (Device III) the presence of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) exhibited UV EL emissions centered at 388 and 386 nm with maximum external quantum efficiencies and power efficiencies of 1.06% and 7.44 mW W⁻¹ for Device III and 0.15% and 1.06 mW W⁻¹ for Device I, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that 1 tends to form nanospheres due to amphiphilic nature. The presence of PMMA unified the size of nanospheres which greatly reduced the void area in films, suppressing the current leakage and enhancing the device efficiency. Furthermore, thicker thickness of the emissive layer of LECs increases the distance between carrier recombination zone and electrodes to avoid exciton quenching. Thus, a sevenfold increase in device efficiency was obtained in thicker UV LECs containing PMMA (Device III) as compared to thinner UV LECs based on neat films of 1 (Device I). The EL emissions in the UV region are successfully achieved by LECs based on 1, which are so far the shortest emission wavelength achieved in LECs.     

Relationship between HOMO energy level and open circuit voltage of polymer solar cells

A series of π-conjugated polymers (PDHF-BT and PDHF-TBT) with 4-(3,4-ethylenedioxythienyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BT), 4,7-bis(3,4-ethylenedioxythienyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (TBT), and 9,9′-dihexylfluorene were synthesized by the Suzuki coupling reaction. The HOMO energy level of PDHF-BT was −5.47 eV, which was lower than that of PDHF-TBT (−5.22 eV), while the LUMO energy level of PDHF-BT (−3.45 eV) was very similar to that of PDHF-TBT (−3.42 eV). These energy levels of PDHF-BT and PDHF-TBT were also supported by a DFT calculation. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the polymer solar cell (PSC) with a structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PDHF-BT:PCBM (1:1)/Al was determined as 0.34% and it was larger than that of the device based on PDHF-TBT (0.22%). Correspondingly, the V_oc of the PSC based on PDHF-BT (0.71 V) was much larger than that of the device based on PDHF-TBT (0.40 V). The results support that the V_oc of polymer based PSCs is strongly related to the HOMO energy level of the active polymers.     

Comparison of short and long wavelength absorption electron donor materials in C60-based planar heterojunction organic photovoltaics

Buckminsterfullerene, C₆₀-based planar heterojunction (PHJ) organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have been created using a short wavelength absorption (λ_max = 490 nm) electron-donating bis(naphthylphenylaminophenyl)fumaronitrile (NPAFN). NPAFN exhibits a hole mobility greater than 0.07 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ as determined by its field-effect transistor. It can be attributed to such hole mobility that enables a thin layer (<10 nm) NPAFN in PHJ OPV, ITO/NPAFN/C₆₀/bathocuproine/Al. Because of the low lying HOMO energy level (5.75 eV) of NPAFN and relatively high ionization potential ITO (∼5.58 eV), such OPVs exhibit a very high open circuit voltage of ∼1.0 V, relatively high fill factor of 0.60, and a relatively high shunt resistance of 1100 Ω cm⁻², which all compensate for a relatively low short circuit current of 3.15 mA cm⁻² due to the short absorption wavelength and inferred short exciton diffusion length of NPAFN. Altogether, NPAFN OPVs display a power conversion efficiency (η_PC) of 2.22%, which is better than other long wavelength absorption materials in similar PHJ OPVs, such as pentacene (λ_max 670 nm, HOMO 5.12 eV, η_PC 1.50%) and copper phthalocyanine (λ_max 624, 695 nm, HOMO 5.17 eV, η_PC 1.43%).     

Synthesis and characterization of a new perylene bisimide (PBI) derivative and its application as electron acceptor for bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells

A symmetrical perylene bisimide derivative (PBI) with 2-(4-nitrophenyl)acrylonitrile groups at the 1,7 bay positions of perylene and solubilizing cyclohexyl units was synthesized and characterized. The absorption spectrum of PBI was broad with the most prominent peak at 655 nm and optical band gap of 1.72 eV. The electrochemical investigation indicates that PBI has a LUMO energy level of −3.9 eV which is similar to that of PCBM or PC₇₀BM. Bulk heterojunction solar cell fabricated using a blend of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and PBI (1:1 w/w) as active layer cast from THF exhibited power conversion efficiency (PCE) at 1.56%. However, the device with P3HT:PBI blend deposited from mixed solvent (DIO/THF) improved the PCE to 2.78% which further increased to 3.17% on using the thermal annealed active layer. The improvement in the PCE is attributed to the enhanced crystallinity of the blend (particularly P3HT) and increase in hole mobility leading to balanced charge transport.     

Photovoltaic properties of low band gap copolymers based on phenylenevinylene donor and cyanovinylene 4-nitrophenyl acceptor units

Two novel copolymers P1 and P2 having phenylenevinylene donor and cyanovinylene 4-nitrophenyl acceptor units, were synthesized by heck coupling and employed as electron donor along with PCBM or modified PCBM (F) as electron acceptor for the fabrication of bulk heterojunction (BHJ) photovoltaic devices. These copolymers P1 and P2 showed broad band absorption around 640-700 nm and optical band gap of 1.60 eV and 1.72 eV, respectively. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) estimated from cyclic voltammetry measurement reveals that these values are well suitable for the use of these copolymers as electron donor along with PCBM derivatives as electron acceptor for BHJ active layer. The suitable LUMO off set allows efficient photo-induced charge transfer at the donor/acceptor interfaces in the BHJ photovoltaic device and resulting power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.8% and 3.29% for P1 and P2, respectively, when PCBM is used as acceptor. This value has been improved up to 3.52% and 4.36% for the devices based on P1 and P2 when F is used as electron acceptor, instead of PCBM. We have also investigated the effect of solvent annealing on the photovoltaic performance of device based on P1: F and P2: F blends and found that the over all PCE of the devices is 4.36% and 4.88%, respectively. The increase in PCE is mainly due to the improvement in the J_sc, which is due to the increased charge transport in the annealed device as compared to as cast device.     

A new thermally crosslinkable hole injection material for OLEDs

A new thermal cross-linkable hole injection monomer VB-DATA derived from famous m-MTDATA as core peripherally functionalized with styryl (vinylbenzene) moiety as polymerizable group has been synthesized and characterized. The propensity of VB-DATA thin films formation is sensitive to the nature of solvent, in which the dichloroethane solution gave smooth polymeric thin films with surface roughness of RMS ∼0.84 nm by spin-casting followed by thermal treatment at 190 °C. The introduction of oxygen-linked vinylbenzene group shifted HOMO energy level of VB-DATA to −5.1 eV along with good nondispersive hole transport property (μ_h ∼ 10^–6 cm² V^–1 s^–1) makes it suitable for serving as HIL on top of ITO electrode. The replacement of PEDOT:PSS by thermally cross-linked VB-DATA films showed comparable OLEDs performance, giving more flexibility on material selection for future OLEDs applications, especially solution-processed ones.     

Benzodithiophene and benzotrithiophene-based conjugated polymers for organic thin-film transistors application: Impact of conjugated- and acyl-side chain

A series of benzodithiophene (BDT) and benzotrithiophene (BTT)-based conjugated polymers (P1–P4), with/without conjugated- and acyl-side chain, have been synthesized by Stille cross-coupling reaction. Their thermal, photophysical, electrochemical properties, devices performances, and microstructure have been investigated. Conjugated-side chain can significantly raise the thermal stability and acyl-side chain can lower HOMO/LUMO energy levels. Organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) based on conjugated polymers were fabricated and the transistor electrical characterization showed the device performance was sensitive to the conjugated- and acyl-side chain substituent of polymers. A maximum hole mobility of 1.70 × 10⁻³ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ was obtained for P1-based devices, which is an order of magnitude higher than those of P3 and P4-based devices. The corresponding microstructures were investigated by grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) to correlate with conjugated- and acyl-side chain dependent carrier mobility of P1–P4. The results showed that the conjugated- and acyl-side chain have an impact on the polymer packing models and device performances.     

Effect of linker used in D–A–π–A metal free dyes with different π-spacers for dye sensitized solar cells

Two novel D–A–π–A metal free dyes with triphenylamine as donor, dithiophene-diketo-pyrrolo-pyrrole as acceptor unit, thiophene and phenyl π-conjugated bridges and a cyanoacetic acid as electron acceptor (TDPP1 and TDPP2 were denoted for thiophene and phenyl π-conjugated bridge, respectively) have been designed and used as sensitizers for DSSCs. Incorporation of dithiophene-diketo-pyrrolo-pyrrole, reduces the band gap significantly. The influence of π-conjugated bridge on optical and electrochemical properties were investigated. Results demonstrated that the absorption band of TDPP with thiophene π-conjugated bridge has red shifted due to the enhancement of electron donating ability of π-conjugated bridge. The DSSC based on TDPP1 shows prominent power conversion efficiency about 4.81%, which is higher that for TDPP2 (3.42%). The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis reveal that the charge recombination resistance at the TiO₂/dye/electrolyte interface for the DSSC based on TDPP1 is higher than that for TDPP2, which improves both J_sc and V_oc. The PCE of the DSSC based on TDPP1 is further improved up to 6.34%, when deoxycholic acid (DCA) was employed as coadsorbant.     

Efficient nondoped blue organic light-emitting diodes based on phenanthroimidazole-substituted anthracene derivatives

A series of new blue materials based on highly fluorescent di(aryl)anthracene and electron-transporting phenanthroimidazole functional cores: 2-(4-(anthracen-9-yl)phenyl)-1-phenyl-1H-phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazole (ACPI), 2-(4-(10-(naphthalen-1-yl)anthracen-9-yl)phenyl)-1-p-henyl-1H-phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazole (1-NaCPI), 2-(4-(10-(naphthalen-2-yl)anthracen-9-yl)phenyl)-1-phenyl-1H-phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazole (2-NaCPI) were designed and synthesized. These materials exhibit good film-forming and thermal properties as well as strong blue emission in the solid state. To explore the electroluminescence properties of these materials, three layer, two layer and single layer organic light-emitting devices were fabricated. With respect to the three layer device 4 using ACPI as the emitting layer, its maximum current efficiency reaches 4.36 cd A⁻¹ with Commission Internationale del’Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.156, 0.155). In the single layer device 10 based on ACPI, maximum current efficiency reaches 1.59 cd A⁻¹ with Commission Internationale del’Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.169, 0.177). Interestingly, both device 4 and 10 has low turn on voltage and negligible efficiency roll off at high current densities.     

Deep blue organic light-emitting diode using non anthracene-type fused-ring spiro[benzotetraphene-fluorene] with aromatic wings

We prepared three spirobenzotetraphene-based fused-ring spiro[benzo[ij]tetraphene-7,9′-fluorene] (SBTF) derivatives for use in non anthracene-type deep-blue organic light-emitting diode (OLED) hosts. 3-(2-Naphthyl)-10-naphthylspiro[benzo[ij]tetraphene-7,9′-fluorene] (N-NSBTF), 3-[4-(2-naphthyl)phenyl]-10-naphthylspiro[benzo[ij]tetraphene-7,9′-fluorene] (NP-NSBTF), and 3-(phenyl)-10-naphthylspiro[benzo[ij]tetraphene-7,9′-fluorene] (P-NSBTF) were synthesized via multi-step Suzuki coupling reactions. The optimized device structure – ITO/N,N′-bis-[4-(di-m-tolylamino)phenyl]-N,N′-diphenylbiphenyl-4,4′-diamine (DNTPD, 60 nm)/bis[N-(1-naphthyl)-N-phenyl]benzidine (NPB, 30 nm)/NSBTF hosts: LBD (5%) (20 nm)/aluminum tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) (Alq₃, 20 nm)/LiF/Al – was characterized by its blue electroluminescence to have a current efficiency of 6.25 cd/A, a power efficiency of 5.07 lm/W, and an external quantum efficiency of 5.24% at 18.7 mA/cm² at CIE coordinates of 0.130, 0.149.