Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) Derived from Poly(ionic liquid) for the Use as Hole-Injecting Material in Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

We report that poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) derived from poly(ionic liquid) (PEDOT:PIL) constitutes a unique polymeric hole-injecting material capable of improving device lifetime in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Imidazolium-based poly(ionic liquid)s were engineered to impart non-acidic and non-aqueous properties to PEDOT without compromising any other properties of PEDOT. A fluorescent OLED was fabricated using PEDOT:PIL as a hole-injection layer and subjected to a performance evaluation test. In comparison with a control device using a conventional PEDOT-based material, the device with PEDOT:PIL was found to achieve a significant improvement in terms of device lifetime. This improvement was attributed to a lower indium content in the PEDOT:PIL layer, which can be also interpreted as the effective protection characteristics of PEDOT:PIL for indium extraction from the electrodes.