Non-Doped Deep-Blue OLEDs Based on Carbazole-π-Imidazole Derivatives

In this work, we designed and synthesized four bipolar blue-emitting materials with carbazole, imidazole, and biphenyl as donor, acceptor, and p bridge, respectively. The twisted phenylimidazole acceptor leads to a wider band-gap and hence deeper blue emission than the conjugated phenanthrimidazole acceptor. For the substituents on the carbazole donor, the t-butyl group could prevent the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) process more effectively than the methoxy group. A non-doped deep-blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) is obtained with CIE coordinates of (0.159, 0.080), a maximum luminance of 11,364 cd/m(2), and a maximum EQE of 4.43%.

Automated summary

In this study, four bipolar blue-emitting materials were designed and synthesized, with carbazole, imidazole, and biphenyl as donor, acceptor, and p bridge, respectively. The incorporation of twisted phenylimidazole acceptor and appropriate substituents on the carbazole donor led to the successful development of a high-performance deep-blue OLED.