Management of Host-Guest Triplet Exciton Distribution for Stable, High-Efficiency, Low Roll-Off Solution-Processed Blue Organic Light-Emitting Diodes by Employing Triplet-Energy-Mediated Hosts

High-quality hosts are indispensable for simultaneously realizing stable, high efficiency, and low roll-off blue solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Herein, three solution processable bipolar hosts with successively reduced triplet energies approaching the T-1 state of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitter are developed and evaluated for high-performance blue OLED devices. The smaller T-1 energy gap between host and guest allows the quenching of long-lived triplet excitons to reduce exciton concentration inside the device, and thus suppresses singlet-triplet and triplet-triplet annihilations. Triplet-energy-mediated hosts with high enough T-1 and better charge balance in device facilitate high exciton utilization efficiency and uniform triplet exciton distribution among host and TADF guest. Benefited from these synergetic factors, a high maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE(max)) of 20.8%, long operational lifetime (T-50 of 398.3 h @ 500 cd m(-2)), and negligible efficiency roll-off (EQE of 20.1% @ 1000 cd m(-2)) are achieved for bluish-green TADF OLEDs. Additionally introducing a narrowband emission multiple-resonance TADF material as terminal emitter to accelerate exciton dynamic and improve exciton utilization, a higher EQE(max) of 23.1%, suppressed roll-off and extended lifetime of 456.3 h are achieved for the sky-blue sensitized OLEDs at the same brightness.

Automated summary

Three solution processable bipolar hosts with successively reduced triplet energies approaching the T-1 state of TADF emitter were developed and evaluated for high-performance blue OLED devices. The smaller T-1 energy gap between host and guest allows the quenching of long-lived triplet excitons, reducing exciton concentration and suppressing singlet-triplet and triplet-triplet annihilations. Triplet-energy-mediated hosts with high enough T-1 and better charge balance facilitate high exciton utilization efficiency and uniform triplet exciton distribution, achieving high EQE(max), long operational lifetime, and negligible efficiency roll-off.