Alternating Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Copolymers Featuring Through-Space Charge Transfer for Efficient Electroluminescence

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) polymerswith thethrough-space charge transfer (TSCT) effect are the emerging emittingmaterials for solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs)because of their unique structures. Herein, we report the design andsynthesis of the TSCT-based alternating TADF copolymers consistingof non-conjugated poly(maleimide-alt-styrene) asthe backbone, acridine as the electron donor, and triazine as theelectron acceptor. The alternating TADF copolymer P(D-alt-TR3) used as the emitter in the solution-processed OLEDachieved a maximum external quantum efficiency of 20.9%, which was2.8 times higher than those of the corresponding random copolymerP(D-co-TR3). This manifests the superiorityof alternating copolymerization over random copolymerization in constructingthe TSCT-based TADF copolymers.

Automated summary

In this study, we designed and synthesized a TSCT-based alternating TADF copolymer consisting of non-conjugated poly(maleimide-alt-styrene) as the backbone, acridine as the electron donor, and triazine as the electron acceptor. The solution-processed OLED using the alternating TADF copolymer as the emitter achieved a maximum external quantum efficiency of 20.9%, which was 2.8 times higher than that of the corresponding random copolymer. This highlights the superiority of alternating copolymerization in constructing TSCT-based TADF copolymers.