High-color-purity and high-efficiency non-doped deep-blue electroluminescent devices based on novel anthracene derivatives

Two novel anthracene derivatives 2-tert-butyl-9,10-bis(2-biphenyl) anthracene (TBBPA) and 2-tert-butyl-9,10-bis[2-(1-naphthyl)phenyl]anthracene (TBNPA) were synthesized and characterized. The quantum chemical calculations show that TBBPA and TBNPA have highly non-coplanar structures. Both the two anthracene derivatives exhibit deep-blue emission with high fluorescence quantum yields. The electrochemical properties and energy levels of the two compounds were investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The non-doped devices based on the two anthracene derivatives exhibit low turn-on voltage and stable deep-blue emission with high efficiency (external quantum efficiency of about 3.0%). The Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates (0.15, 0.07) of the devices are very close to the National Television System Committee (NTSC) blue standard. The comprehensive performances of the devices are comparable to the best of the non-doped deep-blue OLEDs with a CIE coordinate of y < 0.10.