Indenocarbazole based bipolar host materials for highly efficient yellow phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes

We report bipolar host materials with robust indenocarbazole and biphenyl moiety as hole-electron-transporting unit for phosphorescent yellow organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). New host materials demonstrated an excellent morphological stability with high glass transition temperature of 207 °C. Simultaneously, it also revealed appropriate triplet energy of about 2.6 eV for ideal triplet energy transfer to yellow phosphorescent dopant. A phosphorescent yellow OLED with new host ICBP1 (and ICBP2) and conventional yellow dopant iridium(III)bis(4-(4-t-butylphenyl)thieno[3,2-c]pyridinato-N,C2′)acetylacetonate (Ir(tptpy)₂acac) shows a low driving voltage of 3.4 (and 3.6 V) at 1000 cd/m², and maximum external quantum efficiency as high as 26.4%. Such efficient performance of phosphorescent yellow OLEDs is attributed to a good charge balance and high electron transport properties of host materials.     

High external quantum efficiency in yellow and white phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes using an indoloacridinefluorene type host material

High efficiency yellow phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes were developed using spiro[fluorene-9,8′-indolo[3,2,1-de]acridine]-2,7-dicarbonitrile (ACDCN) as the host material for yellow emitting iridium(III) bis(4-phenylthieno[3,2-c]pyridinato-N,C²′)acetylacetonate (PO-01). The ACDCN host showed bipolar charge transport properties and efficient energy transfer to PO-01 dopant. Maximum external quantum efficiency of 25.7% and external quantum efficiency of 21.9% at 1000 cd/m² were obtained using ACDCN as the host material. In addition, high external quantum efficiency of 20.9% was achieved in the two color white phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes with the PO-01 and iridium(III) bis[(4,6-difluorophenyl)-pyridinato-N,C²]picolinate doped ACDCN emitting layer.     

Morphology optimization of organic solar cells enabled by interface engineering of zinc oxide layer with a conjugated organic material

A diphenylphosphine-oxide-based conjugated organic molecule, ((1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triyl)tris(benzene-3,1-diyl))tris(diphenylphosphine oxide) (PO-T2T), was doped into ZnO to improve the characteristics of the electron transport layer (ETL) in inverted organic solar cells (OSCs). A series of characterization techniques were carried out to demonstrate the function of PO-T2T in film aspect, including transmittance, atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), water contact angle and grazing incidence wide angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS). Light dependent, space-charge-limited current, exciton dissociation possibility were aimed to explore the influence of PO-T2T for internal carrier behaviors based on PTB7-Th: PC₇₁BM system. It's found that the PO-T2T doped ETLs played a role in morphology optimization of ETL and undermined the trap-assistant recombination through filling the defects ZnO itself had, simultaneously. Besides, the electron mobility was also improved. With the optimized functionalities, the OSCs' efficiency based on fullerene system Poly[4,8- bis(5-(2-Ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl) benzo [1,2-b:4,5-b′] dithiophene-co-3-fluorothieno [3,4-b] thiophene-2-carboxylate] (PTB7-Th): [6,6]-Phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁BM) was improved from 9.03% to 9.84%. Finally, when this strategy was applied into another hot-topic system, poly((2,6-(4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl-3- fluoro)thiophen-2-yl)-benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene))-alt-(5,5- (1′,3′-di-2-thienyl)-5′,7′-bis(2-ethylhexyl)benzo[1′,2′-c:4′,5′-c′] dithiophene-4,8-dione)) (PBDB-TF):2,2′-((2Z,2′Z)-((12,13-bis(2- ethylhexyl)-3,9-diundecyl-12,13-dihydro-[1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-e] thieno[2,″3″:4′,5′]thieno[2′,3′:4,5]pyrrolo[3,2-g]thieno[2′,3′:4,5] thieno[3,2-b]indole-2,10-diyl)bis(methanylylidene))bis(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-indene-2,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile (Y6), a high PCE of 16.34% was obtained. These results demonstrated that the PO-T2T had a positive role in OSC performance improvement.     

Effect of deoxycholic acid on performance of dye-sensitized solar cell based on black dye

The effect of coadsorption with deoxycholic acid (DCA) on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) based on [(C4H9)4N]3[Ru(Htcterpy)(NCS)3](tcterpy= 4,4′,4"-tricarboxy-2,2′:6′,2"-terpyridine), a socalled black dye, had been investigated. Results showed that the coadsorption of DCA with the black dye results in significant improvement in the photocurrent and mild increase in the photovoltage, which leads to an enhancement of overall power conversion efficiency by 9%. The enhancement of photocurrent was attributed to the increased efficiency of charge collection and/or electron injection. The coadsorption with DCA suppressed charge recombination and thus improved open-circuit photovoltage.     

4, 6-Bis[3-(dibenzothiophen-2-yl)phenyl] pyrimidine bipolar host for bright,efficient and low efficiency roll-off phosphorescent organic light-emitting devices

A bipolar host 4, 6-Bis[3-(dibenzothiophen-2-yl)phenyl] pyrimidine (DBTPhPm) with small singlet-triplet splitting has been synthesized and confirmed through a series of photophysical and electrochemical properties. Monochromatic phosphorescent organic light-emitting devices (PHOLEDs) based on different hosts [(4,4′-N,N'-dicarbazole) biphenyl, 2,7-bis (diphenylphosphoryl)-9-[4-(N,Ndiphenylamino) phenyl]-9-phenylfluorene, (3,3'-bicarbazole) phenyl and DBTPhPm] and dopants are fabricated. Compared to other hosts, the DBTPhPm-based PHOLEDs exhibited high brightness, high efficiency and low efficiency roll-off. The maximum power efficiency of the DBTPhPm-based red (R), green (G), blue (B), yellow (Y), and orange (O) PHOLEDs are 12.2, 47.2, 17.6, 42.6 and 15.1 lm/W, respectively. The current efficiency roll-off of the R, G, B, Y, and O PHOLEDs are 29.8%, 8.6%, 18.2%, 5.9%, and 22.4% from the maximum current efficiency to the high brightness of 5000 cd/m². The detailed working mechanism of the DBTPhPm-based device is discussed.     

CN decoration of dibenzofuran modified biphenyl for high triplet energy host for blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes

A strongly electron deficient and high triplet energy host for blue emitters was developed by decorating a dibenzofuran modified biphenyl backbone structure with multiple CN units. Two hosts, 6,6′-bis(6-cyanodibenzo[b,d]furan-4-yl)-[1,1′-biphenyl]-3,3′-dicarbonitrile(CNDBF1) and 2,2′-bis(6-cyanodibenzo[b,d]furan-4-yl)-[1,1′-biphenyl]-4,4′-dicarbonitrile(CNDBF2), were derived from the CN decoration strategy for application in blue organic light-emitting diodes requiring high triplet energy host. They showed high triplet energy above 2.79 eV and acted as the electron transport type host based on the strong electron deficiency. The mixture of the CNDBF1 and CNDBF2 hosts with a hole transport type 3,3′-di(9H-carbazol-9-yl)-1,1′-biphenyl host performed as the exciplex host of a blue phosphor and accomplished high external quantum efficiency of 22.7% in the blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes.     

Manipulating Charge-Transfer Excitons by Exciplex Matrix: Toward Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Diodes with Power Efficiency beyond 110 lm W−1

The understanding of the external enhancement effects from host matrixes on thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters is crucial but incomprehensive at present. Herein, a series of phosphine oxide (PO) acceptors mDBSOSPO (m  = 2, 3, and 4, corresponding to PO substitution position) and 4,4'-bis(9-carbazolyl)-2,2'-dimethylbiphenyl (CDBP) as donor is used to construct CDBP:mDBSOSPO exciplex matrixes with typical TADF behaviors. After doped with a conventional yellow TADF emitter 4CzTPNBu, the exciplex matrixes dramatically elevate the reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) efficiencies up to 99%, effectively reduce triplet nonradiative rate constant, and tenfold increase singlet radiative/nonradiative ratio beyond 30 in the case of CDBP:2DBSOSPO :3% 4CzTPNBu. The time-resolved photoluminescence and electroluminescence (EL) spectra demonstrate that in contrast to single-molecular hosts, besides the additional RISC channel for TADF facilitation, the exciplexes support the charge preseparation for the step-by-step charge transfer-based energy transfer featuring effective quenching suppression. These external enhancement effects of the exciplex matrixes lead to the state-of-the-art EL performances of their yellow TADF diodes, including the recording power and quantum efficiencies of 114.9 lm W⁻¹ and 30.3% to date.     

Solution processable,precursor based zinc oxide buffer layers for 4.5% efficient organic tandem solar cells

In this work we present regular and inverted organic tandem solar cells from poly[N-9′-hepta-decanyl-2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4′,7′-di-2-thienyl-2′,1′,3′-benzothiadiazole): [6,6]-phenyl C₇₀-butyric acid methyl ester (PCDTBT:PC₇₁BM) with power conversion efficiencies of up to 4.5%. The recombination zone comprises an electron conducting, precursor based zinc oxide buffer layer that was applied from solution under ambient conditions and at moderate processing temperatures. Optimized active layer thicknesses in both subcells were derived from optical Transfer Matrix simulations. The short circuit current density of the tandem cell exceeds half the short circuit current density of the single absorber cells indicating a real gain in quantum yield when utilizing the tandem architecture.     

Electroluminescence enhancement in blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes based on different hosts

Blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes(OLEDs) are fabricated by utilizing the hole transport-type host material of 1,3-bis(carbazol-9-yl)benzene(MCP) combined with the electron transport-type host material of 1,3-bis(triphenylsilyl)benzene(UGH3) with the ratios of 1:0,8:2 and 6:4,and doping with blue phosphorescent dopant of bis(4,6-difluorophenylpyridinato-N,C2)picolinatoiridium(FIrpic).The device with an optimum concentration proportion of MCP:UGH3 of 8:2 exhibits the maximum current efficiency of 19.18 cd/A at luminance of 35.71 cd/m2 with maintaining Commission Internationale de L’Eclairage(CIE) coordinates of(0.1481,0.2695),which is enhanced by 35.7% compared with that of 1:0 with(0.1498,0.2738).The improvements are attributed to the effective carrier injection and transport in emitting layer(EML) because of mixed host materials.In addition,electron and exciton are confined in the EML,and 4,4’,4’’-Tris(carbazol-9-yl)-triphenylamine(TCTA) and Di-[4-(N,N-ditolyl-amino)-phenyl]cyclohexane(TAPC) have the high lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO) energy level and triplet exiton energy.     

A novel intramolecular charge transfer blue fluorophor for high color stability hybrid di-chromatic white organic light-emitting diodes

A novel intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) based blue fluorophor, 5,11-di(40-dimesitylboronphenyl)indolo[3,2-b]carbazole(DDBICZ), possessing a high fluorescent quantum yield of 0.52, a high triplet energy level (2.59 eV), and an intriguing bipolar charge transporting ability, was used as a highly efficient blue fluorophor and a host for a yellow phosphor. Doping a yellow phosphor(bis(2-(3-trifluoromethyl-4-fluorophenyl)-4-methylquinolyl)(acetyl-acetonate)iridium(III) (Ir(ffpmq)₂(acac)) in the host DDBICZ, a simplified fluorescence/phosphorescence (F/P)-based hybrid white organic light-emitting diode (WOLED) with a symmetrical BYB-EML of DDBICZ (10 nm)/DDBICZ: 6 wt% Ir(ffpmq)₂(acac) (10 nm)/DDBICZ (10 nm) is demonstrated. The hybrid WOLED exhibits excellent high color stability and good color quality. Under wide operating voltage range from 5 V to 10 V, the Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of the hybrid WOLED only change from (0.35, 0.36) to (0.34, 0.35), with a high color rending index (CRI) of 79–81. The high color stability is due to the fact that the BYB-EML effectively offsets the change of emission intensity from different emitters caused by the shift of carrier recombination zone with the increase of voltage. In addition, the hybrid WOLED also reveals a considerable current efficiency of 24.4 cd/A. These results demonstrate that efficient F/P hybrid WOLEDs with high color stability could be achieved by such simple BYB-EML structure using single-dopant strategy.     

Doping‐Induced Charge Trapping in Organic Light‐Emitting Devices

By using pyran‐containing donor–acceptor dyes as doping molecules in organic light‐emitting devices (OLEDs), we scrutinize the effects of charge trapping and polarization induced by the guest molecules in the electro‐active host material. Laser dyes 4‐(dicyanomethylene)‐2‐methyl‐6‐[2‐(julolidin‐9‐yl)phenyl]ethenyl]‐4H‐pyran (DCM2) and the novel 4‐(dicyanomethylene)‐2‐methyl‐6‐{2‐[(4‐diphenylamino)phenyl]ethenyl}‐4H‐pyran (DCM‐TPA) are used as model compounds. The emission color of these polar dyes depends strongly on doping concentration, which we have attributed to polarization effects induced by the doping molecules themselves. Their frontier orbital energy levels are situated within the bandgap of the tris(8‐hydroxyquinoline)aluminum (Alq₃) host matrix and allow the investigation of either electron trapping or both electron and hole trapping. In the case of DCM‐TPA doping, we were able to show that electron trapping leads to a partial shift of the recombination zone out of the doped Alq₃ region. To impede charge‐recombination processes taking place in the undoped host matrix, a charge‐blocking layer efficiently confines the recombination zone inside the doped zone and gives rise to increased luminous efficiency. For a doping concentration of 1 wt.‐% we obtain a maximum luminous efficiency of 10.4 cd A^–1. At this doping concentration, the yellow emission spectrum shows excellent color saturation with CIE chromaticity coordinates x, y of 0.49 and 0.50, respectively. In the case of DCM2 the recombination zone is much less affected for the same doping concentrations, which is ascribed to the fact that both electrons and holes are being trapped. The experimental findings are corroborated with a numerical simulation of the doped multilayer devices.     

A Highly Efficient,Blue‐Phosphorescent Device Based on a Wide‐Bandgap Host/FIrpic: Rational Design of the Carbazole and Phosphine Oxide Moieties on Tetraphenylsilane

A new series of wide‐bandgap materials, 4‐dipenylphosphine oxide‐4′‐9H‐carbazol‐9‐yl‐tetraphenylsilane (CSPO), 4‐diphenylphosphine oxide‐4′,4″‐di(9H‐carbazol‐9‐yl)‐tetraphenylsilane (pDCSPO), 4‐diphenylphosphine oxide ‐4′‐[3‐(9H‐carbazol‐9‐yl)‐carbazole‐9‐yl]‐tetraphenylsilane (DCSPO), 4‐diphenylphosphine oxide‐4′,4″,4″′‐tri(9H‐carbazol‐9‐yl)‐tetraphenylsilane (pTCSPO) and 4‐diphenylphosphine oxide ‐4′‐[3,6‐di(9H‐carbazol‐9‐yl)‐9H‐carbazol‐9‐yl]‐tetraphenylsilane (TCSPO), containing different ratios and linking fashions of p‐type carbazole units and n‐type phosphine oxide units, are designed and obtained. DCSPO is the best host in FIrpic‐doped devices for this series of compounds. By utilizing DCzSi and DPOSi as hole‐ and electron‐transporting layers, a high EQE of 27.5% and a maximum current efficiency of 49.4 cd A^?1 are achieved in the DCSPO/FIrpic doped device. Even at 10 000 cd m^?2, the efficiencies still remain 41.2 cd A^?1 and 23.0%, respectively.     

High-brightness blue organic light emitting diodes with different types of guest-host systems

We demonstrate high-brightness blue organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) using two types of guest-host systems. A series of blue OLEDs were fabricated using three organic emitters of dibenz anthracene (perylene), di(4-fluorophenyl) amino-di (styryl) biphenyl (DSB) and 4,4''-bis[2-(9-ethyl-3-carbazolyl)vinyl]biphenyl (BCzVBi) doped into two hosting materials of 4,4''-bis(9-carbazolyl) biphenyl (CBP) and 2-(4-biphenylyl)-5(4-tert-butyl-phenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (PBD) as blue emitting layers, respectively. We achieve three kinds of devices with colors of deep-blue, pure-blue and sky-blue with the Commission Internationale de L''Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.16, 0.10), (0.15, 0.15) and (0.17, 0.24), respectively, by employing PBD as host material. In addition, we present a microcavity device using the PBD guest-host system and achieve high-purity blue devices with narrowed spectrum.     

A high thermal stability terpyridine derivative as the electron transporter for long-lived green phosphorescent OLED

A new terpyridine-based compound of 2,2′,7,7′-tetra([2,2':6′,2″-terpyridin]-4′-yl)-9,9′-spirobi[fluorene] (4oTPSF) was designed and synthesized as the electron transporter in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). 4oTPSF exhibited excellent thermal stability with high glass transition temperature (T_g) of 250 °C and melting temperature (T_m) of 460 °C during the thermal measurement. The excellent thermal stability is attributed to the molecular structure, that the steric effect of rigid twisted spirobiflourene and the connected terpyridine (TPY) resulted in a decrease of the intermolecular π-stacking interaction. The studies on electrical characteristics of electron-only devices revealed that 4oTPSF showed high electron-transporting capability, as good as the conventional electron-transporting material (ETM) 1,3,5-tris(N-phenylbenzimid-azol-2-yl-benzene (TPBi). A series of green phosphorescent OLEDs (PhOLEDs) based on bis(2-phenylpyridine)iridium(III)(2,2,6,6-tetramethylheptane-3,5-diketonate) (Ir(ppy)₂tmd) or tris[2-(p-tolyl)pyridine]iridium(III) (Ir(mppy)₃) as emitter and 4oTPSF as ETM displayed a turn-on voltage of 2.23 V and a maximum power efficiency of 97.8 l m/W and a half-life (T₅₀) of 101, 5680 and 319 390 h at an initial luminance of 10 000, 1000 and 100 cd/m², respectively. The lifetime of 4oTPSF-based device was twice more than the lifetime of TPBi-based device.     

Size‐Specific Interactions Between Single‐ and Double‐Stranded Oligonucleotides and Cationic Water‐Soluble Oligofluorenes

An improved synthetic approach was developed for the synthesis of 1,4‐bis[9′,9′‐bis(6″‐(N,N,N‐trimethylammonium)‐hexyl)‐fluoren‐2′‐yl]benzene tetrabromide ( 1a ), 1,4‐bis[9′,9′;9″,9″‐tetra(6″′‐(N,N,N‐trimethylammonium)‐hexyl)‐7′,2″‐bisfluoren‐2′‐yl] benzene octabromide ( 1b ) and 1,4‐bis[9′,9′;9″,9″;9″′,9″′‐hexakis(6″″‐(N,N,N‐trimethylammonium)‐hexyl)‐7′,2″,7″,2″′‐trifluoren‐2′‐yl] benzene dodecabromide ( 1c ). These molecules provide a size‐specific series of water‐soluble oligofluorene molecules with increasing numbers of repeat units to model the interactions between cationic conjugated polymers and DNA. Fluorescence quenching and energy‐transfer measurements were performed with 1a – c and single‐stranded (ss) DNA and double‐stranded (ds) DNA, with and without fluorescein (Fl). These studies show that, on a per‐negative‐charge basis, ssDNA quenches the emission of 1a – c more effectively than dsDNA. Furthermore, we show that the energy‐transfer ratios dsDNA–Fl/ssDNA–Fl are dependent on the number of repeat units in 1a – c .     

Dynamic Balance of Partial Charge for Small Organic Compound in Aqueous Zinc-Organic Battery

Organic cathodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) feature intrinsic flexibility and favorable kinetics, but they suffer from high solubility. Herein, a partial charge regulation strategy is deployed by designing a small organic molecule with extended π-conjugated plane, namely benzo[i]benzo[6′,7′]quinoxalino[2′,3′:9,10]phenanthro[4,5-abc]phenazine-5,10,16,21-tetraone (PTONQ). The charge equalization of active sites induced by the extended π-conjugated plane of the PTONQ molecule combined with high aromaticity renders the molecule low solubility, fast charge transfer, and high structural stability. The fabricated Zn//PTONQ battery cycles more than 500 h at 175 mA g⁻¹ with small capacity reduction, fast charged/discharged kinetics, and anti-freeze performance (below -20°C). By a series of ex situ characterizations, it is attested that the capacity originates mainly from Zn²⁺ insertion/removal of PTONQ without H⁺ incorporation, which also accounts for the formation of Zn_x(CF₃SO₃)_y(OH)_2x-y·nH₂O by-products. This result benefits the understanding of the by-product formation mechanism of organic cathode and paves a new way to advance the aqueous Zn-organic batteries.     

All-small-molecule efficient white organic light-emitting diodes by multi-layer blade coating

Blue and white small-molecule organic light-emitting diodes are fabricated by multi-layer blade coating on hot plate at 80 °C with hot wind. Uniform multi-layer structures are made without dissolution due to rapid drying. Only small molecules originally developed for vacuum deposition are used. For hole transport layer of, 4′,4″-tris(carbazol-9-yl)triphenylamine (TCTA), electron transport layer of 2,2′,2″-(1,3,5-benzinetriyl)-tris(1-phenyl-1-H-benzimidazole) (TBPI), emissive layer host of, 6-bis(3-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)phenyl)pyridine (26DCzPPy), triplet emitters of bis(3,5-difluoro-2-(2-pyridyl)phenyl-(2-carboxypyridyl)iridium(III) (FIrpic), and cathode of LiF/Al, the peak current efficiency for blue emission is 25.1 cd/A (10.8% and 9.3 lm/W). Orange emitter iridium(III)bis (4-(4-t-butylphenyl) thieno[3,2-c]pyridinato-N,C2′)acetylacetonate (PO-01-TB) is added to obtain white emission with CIE coordinate of (0.39, 0.46) [1]. The current efficiency is 34.2 cd/A (11.6% and 12 lm/W) at maximum, 32.4 cd/A at 1000 cd/m², and 31 cd/A at 10,000 cd/m².     

Fluorenone‐Based Molecules for Bulk‐Heterojunction Solar Cells: Synthesis,Characterization, and Photovoltaic Properties

A series of four conjugated molecules consisting of a fluorenone central unit symmetrically coupled to different oligothiophene segments are conceptually designed and synthesized to provide new electroactive materials for application in photovoltaic devices. The combination of electron‐donating oligothiophene building blocks with an electron‐accepting fluorenone unit results in the emergence of a new band assigned to an intramolecular charge transfer transition that gives rise to the extension of the absorption spectral range of the resulting molecules. Detailed spectroscopic and voltammetric investigations show that all studied molecules have highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level positions, which make them good candidates for the application as electron‐donors in bulk‐heterojunction photovoltaic cells, with (6,6)‐phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM)‐C₆₀ as electron acceptor component. Moderate device performances, with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) comprised between 0.3 and 0.6%, were obtained with rigid molecules, containing either the bridging units between the thiophene rings, i.e., (2,7‐bis(4,4′‐dioctyl‐cyclopenta[2,1‐b:3,4‐b′]dithiophen‐2‐yl)‐fluoren‐9‐one (SCPTF) and 2,7‐bis(4‐(dioctylmethylene)‐cyclopenta[2,1‐b:3,4‐b′]dithiophen‐5‐yl)‐fluoren‐9‐one (MCPTF) or a vinylene unit 2,7‐bis(5‐[(E)‐1,2‐bis(3‐octylthien‐2‐yl)ethylene])‐fluoren‐9‐one (TVF), whereas with (2,7‐bis‐(3,3?‐dioctyl‐[2,2′;5′,2″;5″,2?]quaterthiophen‐5‐yl)‐fluoren‐9‐one (QTF) PCE up to 1.2% (under AM 1.5 illumination, 100 mW cm^?2, active area 0.28 cm²) was obtained. The strong π‐stacking interactions in the solid state for this oligomer leading to improved morphology could explain the good performances of QTF‐based devices, which rank among the highest recorded for non‐polymeric materials. Consequently, fluorenone‐based non‐polymeric molecules constitute highly attractive materials for solution‐processable solar cell applications.     

Highly Efficient Simple‐Structure Blue and All‐Phosphor Warm‐White Phosphorescent Organic Light‐Emitting Diodes Enabled by Wide‐Bandgap Tetraarylsilane‐Based Functional Materials

Two host materials of {4‐[diphenyl(4‐pyridin‐3‐ylphenyl)silyl]phenyl}diphenylamine (p‐PySiTPA) and {4‐[[4‐(diphenylphosphoryl)phenyl](diphenyl)silyl]phenyl}diphenylamine (p‐POSiTPA), and an electron‐transporting material of [(diphenylsilanediyl)bis(4,1‐phenylene)]bis(diphenylphosphine) dioxide (SiDPO) are developed by incorporating appropriate charge transporting units into the tetraarylsilane skeleton. The host materials feature both high triplet energies (ca. 2.93 eV) and ambipolar charge transporting nature; the electron‐transporting material comprising diphenylphosphine oxide units and tetraphenylsilane skeleton exhibits a high triplet energy (3.21 eV) and a deep highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level (‐6.47 eV). Using these tetraarylsilane‐based functional materials results in a high‐efficiency blue phosphorescent device with a three‐organic‐layer structure of 1,1‐bis[4‐[N,N‐di(p‐tolyl)‐amino]phenyl]cyclohexane (TAPC)/p‐POSiTPA: iridium(III) bis(4′,6′‐difluorophenylpyridinato)tetrakis(1‐pyrazolyl)borate (FIr6)/SiDPO that exhibits a forward‐viewing maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) up to 22.2%. This is the first report of three‐organic‐layer FIr6‐based blue PhOLEDs with the forward‐viewing EQE over 20%, and the device performance is among the highest for FIr6‐based blue PhOLEDs even compared with the four or more than four organic‐layer devices. Furthermore, with the introduction of bis(2‐(9,9‐diethyl‐9H‐fluoren‐2‐yl)‐1‐phenyl‐1H‐benzoimidazol‐N,C³)iridium acetylacetonate [(fbi)₂Ir(acac)] as an orange emitter, an all‐phosphor warm‐white PhOLED achieves a peak power efficiency of 47.2 lm W^?1, which is close to the highest values ever reported for two‐color white PhOLEDs.     

Functionalized Graphene as an Electron‐Cascade Acceptor for Air‐Processed Organic Ternary Solar Cells

Functionalized graphene nanoflakes (GNFs) are used as an electron‐cascade acceptor material in air‐processed organic ternary bulk heterojunction solar cells. The functionalization is realized via the attachment of the ethylenedinitrobenzoyl (EDNB) molecule to the GNFs. Simulation and experimental results show that such nanoscale modification greatly influences the density of states near the Fermi level. Consequently, the GNF‐EDNB blend presents favorable highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels to function as a bridge structure between the poly[N‐9′‐heptadecanyl‐2,7‐carbazole‐alt‐5,5‐(4′,7′‐di‐2‐thienyl‐2′,1′,3′‐benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT) and the [6,6]‐phenyl‐C71‐butyric‐acid‐methyl‐ester (PC₇₁BM). The improved exciton dissociation and charge transport are associated with the better energy level alignment of the ternary blend and the high electrical conductivity of the GNFs, which act as additional electron transport channels within the photoactive layer. The resulting PCDTBT/GNF‐EDNB/PC₇₁BM ternary organic solar cells, fabricated entirely under ambient conditions, exhibit an average power conversion efficiency enhancement of ≈18% as compared with the binary blend PCDTBT/PC₇₁BM.