A Pyridine-Containing Anthracene Derivative with High Electron and Hole Mobilities for Highly Efficient and Stable Fluorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

A pyridine-containing anthracene derivative, 9,10-bis(3-(pyridin-3-yl)phenyl) anthracene (DPyPA), which comprehensively outperforms the widely used electron-transport material (ETM), tris(8-quinolinolato) aluminum (Alq(3)), is synthesized. DPyPA exhibits ambipolar transport properties, with both electron and hole mobilities of around 10(-3) cm(-2) V-1 s(-1); about two orders of magnitude higher than that of Alq(3). The nitrogen atom in the pyridine ring of DPyPA coordinates to lithium cations, which leads to efficient electron injection when LiF/Al is used as the cathode. Electrochemical measurements demonstrate that both the cations and anions of DPyPA are stable, which may improve the stability of devices based on DPyPA. Red-emitting, green-emitting, and blue-emitting fluorescent organic light emitting diodes with DPyPA as the ETM display lower turn-on voltages, higher efficiencies, and stronger luminance than the devices with Alq(3) as the ETM. The power efficiencies of the devices based on DPyPA are greater by 80-140% relative to those of the Alq(3)-based devices. The improved performance of these devices is attributed to the increased carrier balance. In addition, the device employing DPyPA as the ETM possesses excellent stability: the half-life of the DPyPA-based device is 67 000 h-seven times longer than that of the Alq(3)-based device-for an initial luminance of 5000 cd m(-2)