Aggregation-induced emission fluorophore doped phosphate glass: Toward light-emitting electrochemical cells

Light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) are an easy-to-fabricate electroluminescent device, which in its simplest manifestation comprises an electroluminescence organic fluorophore and electrolytes as the active layer sandwiched between two electrodes. The LEC exhibits poor operational stability, and the poor thermal stability of the electrolyte is a major cause of the instability. Because most of the electrolytes utilized in LEC are organic electrolytes (polymer and ionic liquids), the thermal stability is difficult to improve on a large scale. Therefore, in this work, we are devoted to preliminarily exploring the possibility of using an inorganic glass electrolyte for LEC application. Following this objective, organic fluorophore (n-extended phosphole sulfide 1) doped inorganic phosphate amorphous matrix was successfully synthesized using spark plasma sintering technology. The optical properties, microstructure, and electrochemical properties of the hybrid glass were investigated, respectively. The ionic conductivity of the glass host can reach 10(-7) S/cm at room temperature, and the glass matrix contain aggregates of 1 of around 100 nm. Strong photoluminescence at 600 nm, characteristic of the organic fluorophore, was observed in the hybrid glass. The cyclic voltammetry performed on the hybrid glass shows a redox couple contribution of the organic fluorophore. The result suggests 1 can complete the exchange of electric charges in the inorganic glass electrolyte, which is one of the fingerprints of the transient phenomena of a LEC. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

LEC is an easily fabricated electroluminescent device with poor operational stability, mainly due to the poor thermal stability of the electrolyte. This study explores the use of inorganic glass electrolyte for LEC application, successfully synthesizing a hybrid glass with organic fluorophore dopants and promising optical and electrochemical properties.