Steric Modulation of Spiro Structure for Highly Efficient Multiple Resonance Emitters

A multiple resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) molecule with a fused, planar architecture tends to aggregate at high doping ratios, resulting in broad full width at half maximum (FWHM), redshifting electroluminescence peaks, and low device efficiency. Herein, we propose a mono-substituted design strategy by introducing spiro-9,9 '-bifluorene (SBF) units with different substituted sites into the MR-TADF system for the first time. As a classic steric group, SBF can hinder interchromophore interactions, leading to high device efficiency (32.2-35.9 %) and narrow-band emission (approximate to 27 nm). Particularly, the shield-like molecule, SF1BN, seldom exhibits a broadened FWHM as the doping ratio rises, which differs from the C3-substituted isomer and unhindered parent emitter. These results manifest an effective method for constructing highly efficient MR-TADF emitters through a spiro strategy and elucidate the feasibility for steric modulation of the spiro structure in pi-framework.

Automated summary

In this study, we propose a method for constructing highly efficient MR-TADF emitters by introducing spiro-9,9'-bifluorene (SBF) units and adopting a mono-substituted design strategy. The results demonstrate that the SF1BN molecule exhibits high device efficiency and narrow-band emission, which is of significant importance for improving the performance of MR-TADF devices.