Effect of aggregation on thermally activated delayed fluorescence and ultralong organic phosphorescence:QM/MM study

Aggregation-induced thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF)phenomena have attracted extensive attention recently.In this paper,several theoretical models including monomer,dimer,and complex are used for the explanation of the luminescent properties of(R)-5-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)-2-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalen-1-yl)isoindoline-1,3-dione((R)-ImNCz),which was recently reported[Chemical Engineering Journal 418129167(2021)].The polarizable continuum model(PCM)and the combined quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics(QM/MM)method are adopted in simulation of the property of the molecule in the gas phase,solvated in acetonitrile and in aggregation states.It is found that large spin–orbit coupling(SOC)constants and a smaller energy gap between the first singlet excited state and the first triplet excited state(△E_(st))in prism-like single crystals(SC_(p)-form)are responsible for the TADF of(R)-lmNCz,while no TADF is found in block-like single crystals(SC_(b)-form)with a larger △E_(st).The multiple ultralong phosphorescence(UOP)peaks in the spectrum are of complex origins,and they are related not only to ImNCz but also to a minor amount of impurities(ImNBd)in the crystal prepared in the laboratory.The dimer has similar phosphorescence emission wavelengths to the(R)-lmNCz-SC_(p) monomers.The complex composed of(R)-lmNCz and(R)-lmNBd contributes to the phosphorescent emission peak at about 600 nm,and the phosphorescent emission peak at about 650 nm is generated by(R)-lmNBd.This indicates that the impurity could also contribute to emission in molecular crystals.The present calculations clarify the relationship between the molecular aggregation and the light-emitting properties of the TADF emitters and will therefore be helpful for the design of potentially more useful TADF emitters.

First-Principles Investigation on Triazine Based Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters

Three kinds of triazine based organic molecules designed for thermally activated delayed fluorescence （TADF） emitters are investigated by first-principles calculations. An optimal Hartree-Fork （HF） method is adopted for the calculation of energy gap between the first singlet state （S1） and the first triplet state （T1）. The natural transition orbital, the electron- hole （e-h） distribution and the e-h overlap diagram indicate that the S1 states for the three systems include both charge-transfer and some localized excitation component. Further quantitative analysis of the excitation property is performed by introducing the index Ar and the integral of e-h overlap S. It is found that symmetric geometry is a necessary condition for TADF emitters, which can provide more delocalized transition orbitals and consequently a small S1-T1 energy gap. Artful inserting aromatic groups between donors and acceptors can significantly enhance the oscillator strength. Finally, the energy state structures calculated with the optimal HF method is presented, which can provide basis for the study of the dynamics of excited states.

High Efficiency and Stable Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Based on Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitter

High efficiency, stable organic light-emitting diodes （OLEDs） based on 2-pheyl-4＇-carbazole-9-H-Thioxanthen-9- one-10, 10-dioxide （TXO-PhCz） with different doping concentration are constructed. The stability of the encap- sulated devices are investigated in detail. The devices with the 10 wt% doped TXO-PhCz emitter layer （EML） show the best performance with a current efficiency of 52.1 cd/A, a power efficiency of 32.71re^W, and an external quantum efficiency （EQE） of 17.7%. The devices based on the lOwt%-doped TXO-PhCz EML show the best operational stability with a half-life time （LTSO） of 8Oh, which is 8 h longer than that of the reference devices based on fac-tris（2-phenylpyridinato）iridium（ Ⅲ） （Ir（ppy）a）. These indicate excellent stability of TXO-PhCz for redox and oxidation processes under electrical excitation and TXO-PhCz can be potentially used as the emitters for OLEDs with high efficiency and excellent stability. The high-performance device based on TXO-PhCz with high stability can be further improved by the optimization of the encapsulation technology and the development of a new host for TXO-PhCz.

Theoretical verification of intermolecular hydrogen bond induced thermally activated delayed fluorescence in SOBF-OMe

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF)molecules have attracted great attention as high efficient luminescent materials.Most of TADF molecules possess small energy gap between the first singlet excited state(S_(1))and the first triplet excited state(T_(1))to favor the up-conversion from T_(1)to S_(1).In this paper,a new TADF generation mechanism is revealed based on theoretical simulation.By systematic study of the light-emitting properties of SOBF-OMe in both toluene and in aggregation state,we find that the single SOBF-OMe could not realize TADF emission due to large energy gap as well as small up-conversion rates between S_(1)and T_(1).Through analysis of dimers,we find that dimers with intermolecular hydrogen bond(H-bond)are responsible for the generation of TADF,since smaller energy gap between S_(1)and T_(1)is found and the emission wavelength is in good agreement with experimental counterpart.The emission properties of SOBF-H are also studied for comparison,which reflect the important role of H-bond.Our theoretical results agree ith experimental results well and confirm the mechanism of H-bond induced TADF.

Luminescent properties of thermally activated delayed fluorescence molecule with intramolecular π-π interaction between donor and acceptor

Influence of intramolecular π-π interaction on the luminescent properties of thermally activated delayed fluorescence（TADF） molecule（3, 5-bis（3,6-di-tert-butyl-9 H-carbazol-9-yl）-phenyl）（pyridin-4-yl） methanone（DTCBPY） is theoretically studied by using the density functional theory（DFT） and time-dependent density functional theory（TD-DFT）.Four conformations（named as A, B, C, and D） of the DTCBPY can be found by relax scanning, and the configuration C corresponds to the luminescent molecule detected experimentally. Besides, we calculate the proportion of each conformation by Boltzmann distribution, high configuration ratios（44% and 52%） can be found for C and D. Moreover, C and D are found to exist with an intramolecular π-π interaction between one donor and the acceptor; the intramolecular interaction brings a smaller Huang-Rhys factor and reduced reorganization energy. Our work presents a rational explanation for the experimental results and demonstrates the importance of the intramolecular π-π interaction to the photophysical properties of TADF molecules.

Heptagonal intramolecular-lock strategy enables high-performance thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters

The development of highly efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF)emitters is persistently pursued for the application of organic light-emitting diodes(OLED)in full-colour display and solid-state lighting.Herein,we present a heptagonal intramolecular-lock strategy to design high-performance TADF emitters.As a proof-of-concept,a new type of tribenzotropone(TBP)acceptor has been designed and synthesized by a cascade decarboxylative cyclization of aryl oxoacetic acid derivative with biphenyl boronic acid.Compared with the unlocked benzophenone(BP)acceptor,the TBP acceptor has a highly twisted heptagonal geometry with moderate rigidity and flexibility,which enables a high-performance TADF emitter with a small single-triplet energy gap(ΔE_(ST))of 0.04 e V,a high photoluminescence quantum yield(Φ_(PL))of 99% and a large horizontal orientation factor(Θ_(//))of 84.0%.Consequently,highly efficient OLEDs with an external quantum efficiency as high as 33.8% are assembled,which is significantly higher than those of DPAC-BP with a highly rotatable BP acceptor(23.8%)as well as DPACFO with a rigid fluorenone(FO)acceptor(6.9%).

One-shot synthesis of heavy-atom-modified carbazole-fused multi-resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials

Efficient multi-resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence(MR-TADF)materials hold significant potential for applications in organic light-emitting diodes(OLEDs)and ultra-high-definition displays.However,the stringent synthesis conditions and low yields typically associated with these materials pose substantial challenges for their practical applications.In this study,we introduce an innovative strategy that involves peripheral modification with sulfur and selenium atoms for two materials,CFDBNS and CFDBNSe.This approach enables a directed one-shot borylation process,achieving synthesis yields of 66%and 25%,respectively,while also enhancing reverse intersystem crossing rates.Both emitters exhibit ultra-narrowband sky-blue emissions centered around 474 nm,with full width at half maximum(FWHM)values as narrow as 19 nm in dilute toluene solutions,along with high photoluminescence quantum yields of 98%and 99%in doped films,respectively.The OLEDs based on CFDBNS and CFDBNSe display sky-blue emissions with peaks at 476 and 477 nm and exceptionally slender FWHM values of 23 nm.Furthermore,the devices demonstrate remarkable performances,achieving maximum external quantum efficiencies of 24.1%and 27.2%.This work presents a novel and straightforward approach for the incorporation of heavy atoms,facilitating the rapid construction of efficient MR-TADF materials for OLEDs.

Chiral multiple-resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials based on chiral spiro-axis skeleton for efficient circularly polarized electroluminescence

Chiral luminescence materials have potential applications in the field of three-dimensional displays due to their circularly polarized luminescence(CPL)characteristics.However,the further development of circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes(CP-OLEDs)needs to meet the requirements of high efficiency,high color purity,low cost,and high dissymmetry factor(gPLor gEL),chiral multiple resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence(MR-TADF)materials are considered as candidates in these aspects.Herein,based on a pair of chiral spirofluorene precursors,two pairs of high-performance chiral MR-TADF emitters((R/S)-p-Spiro-DtBuCzB and(R/S)-m-Spiro-DtBuCzB)are developed,which exhibit strong emissions peaking at 491 and 502 nm in toluene with full-width at half-maximum values of 25 and 33 nm,respectively.In addition,small singlet–triplet energy gaps of 0.15 and 0.10 eV with high absolute photoluminescence efficiencies of 95.0%and 96.7%are observed for p-Spiro-DtBuCzB and m-Spiro-DtBuCzB molecules,respectively.OLEDs based on p-Spiro-DtBuCzB and m-Spiro-DtBuCzB display high maximum external quantum efficiencies of 29.6%and 33.8%,respectively.Most importantly,CP-OLEDs present symmetric circularly polarized electroluminescence spectra with|gEL|factors of 3.36×10^(-4)and 7.66×10^(-4)for devices based on(R/S)-p-Spiro-DtBuCzB and(R/S)-m-Spiro-DtBuCzB enantiomers,respectively.

Chiral thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials for circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes

Chirality is an important natural characteristic of organic molecules,and chiral organic molecules have shown extensive application in areas such as pharmaceutical development and material science.Benefiting from the ability to achieve circularly polarized luminescence(CPL),chiral luminescent materials have shown potential applications in anti-glare display,optical communication and,3D display,etc.Due to the ability to harvest both singlet and triplet excitons by a fast reverse intersystem crossing process without involving noble metals,chiral thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF)materials with point chirality,axial chirality,planar chirality and helical chirality are regarded as the state-of-the-art materials for circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes(CP-OLEDs).In recent years,the chiral TADF materials and CP-OLEDs have rapidly developed,but unfortunately,the dissymmetry factors(g)are far from the requirement of practical applications.The ideal emitters and devices should have both high efficiency and a g factor,or at least a balance between these two elements.This review gives an overview of recent progress in chiral TADF materials,with a particular focus on the chiral skeleton,CPL property and device performance.Furthermore,the molecular design concept,device structure and methods to improve the g factors of chiral materials and CP-OLEDs are also discussed.

Supramolecular Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials via Through-Space Charge Transfer

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF)polymeric materials based on through-space charge transfer(TSCT)have emerged as a highly studied topic in recent years.However,the construction of TSCT TADF materials via a supramolecular approach is still a big challenge.In this work,we report the noncovalent synthesis of TSCT TADF materials using a cyclic peptide-based bottle-brushed supramolecular polymer as a scaffold.By bringing the TSCT donor and acceptor in close proximity in space using the supramolecular scaffold,distinctive TADF emission in both solution and solid states could be achieved.Furthermore,the TADF system could be utilized as a sensitizer to coassemble with fluorescence acceptors to build thermally assisted fluorescence systems,resulting in color-tunable delayed fluorescence with high efficiency and color purity.Our findings provide a facile yet effective approach to designing and fabricating TSCT TADF materials,which might hold great potential for applications in the fields of organic light-emitting diode,bioimaging,and sensing.

Bipolar Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitter with Balanced Carrier Transport for High-Efficiency Nondoped Green Electroluminescent Devices

High-efficiency electroluminescent devices featuring simplified architecture have received considerable attention due to significant advantages in construction procedures and commercialized applications.However,there still remains a critical challenge with regard to the lack of organic semiconductors that simultaneously possess high luminescent efficiency and balanced carrier-transporting abilities.Herein,we design a thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF)emitter 4-(9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydroacridine)-4′-triphenylphosphineoxide-benzophenone(DMAC-BPTPO)by incorporating triphenylphosphine oxide into the donor–acceptor skeleton.The accessional electrontransporting moiety,rod-like dimer,and horizontally packing model synergistically enable DMAC-BP-TPO which possesses an excellent photoluminescence quantum yield of nearly 90%with a reverse intersystem crossing rate constant of 2.0×106 s−1,horizontal dipole ratio of 89%,and a balanced electron and hole mobilities with a small constrast ratio of 1.08.Eventually,simplified electroluminescent devices including organic lightemitting diodes(OLEDs)and organic light-emitting transistors(OLETs)incorporating DMAC-BP-TPO-based nondoped film are demonstrated due to their superior integrated optoelectronic properties along with preferable horizontal dipole orientation.A record-high external quantum efficiency value of 21.7%and 4.4%are finally achieved in the simplified nondoped OLED and OLET devices,which are among the highest values in the related research fields.This work provides a new avenue to develop a high-efficiency bipolar TADF emitter to advance the simplified electroluminescent devices.

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence carbazole-triazine dendrimer with bulky substituents

Carbazole-triazine dendrimers with a bulky terminal substituent were synthesized,and the thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF)property was investigated.Compared to unsubstituted carbazole dendrimers,dendrimers with bulky terminal substituents showed comparable to better photoluminescence quantum yields(PLQY)in neat films.Phenylfluorene(PF)-substituted dendrimers showed the highest PLQY of 81%,a smallΔEst of 0.06 eV,and the fastest reverse intersystem crossing(RISC)rate of∼1×10^(5 )s^(−1) compared to other dendrimers.Phosphorescence measurements of dendrimers and dendrons(fragments)indicate that the close proximity of the triplet energy of phenylfluorene-substituted carbazole dendrons(^(3)LE)to that of phenylfluorene-substituted dendrimers(^(1)CT,^(3)CT)contributes to RISC promotion and improves TADF efficiency.Terminal modification fine-tunes the energy level and suppresses intermolecular interactions,and this study provides a guideline for designing efficient solution-processable and non-doped TADF materials.

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials for nondoped organic light-emitting diodes with nearly 100%exciton harvest

High-performance nondoped organic light-emitting diodes(OLEDs)are promising technologies for future commercial applications.Herein,we synthesized two new thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF)emitters that enable us,for the first time,to combine three effective approaches for enhancing the efficiency of nondoped OLEDs.First,the two emitters are designed to have high steric hindrances such that their emitting cores will be suitably isolated from those of their neighbors to minimize concentration quenching.On the other hand,each of the two emitters has two stable conformations in solid films.In their neat films,molecules with the minority conformation behave effectively as dopants in the matrix composing of the majority conformation.One hundred percent exciton harvesting is thus theoretically feasible in this unique architecture of“self-doped”neat films.Furthermore,both emitters have relatively high aspect ratios in terms of their molecular shapes.This leads to films with preferred molecular orientations enabling high populations of horizontal dipoles beneficial for optical outcoupling.With these three factors,OLEDs with nondoped emitting layers of the respective emitters both achieve nearly 100%exciton utilization and deliver over 30%external quantum efficiencies and ultralow efficiency roll-off at high brightness,which have not been observed in reported nondoped OLEDs.

Phosphonium-Based Ionic Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters for High-Performance Partially Solution-Processed Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

Ionic thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF)emitters are rarely investigated due to their poor photoluminescence and electroluminescence performance.Herein,highly efficient ionic TADF emitters with charged donor–acceptor(D–A^(+))and D–A^(+)–D architectures are designed,innovatively based on the phosphonium cation electron acceptor.The symmetric D–A^(+)–D compound in doped film exhibits a high photoluminescence quantum yield of 0.91 and a short emission lifetime of 1.43 microseconds.Partially solution-processed organic lightemitting diodes based on these ionic TADF emitters achieve a maximum external quantum efficiency(EQE)of 18.3%and a peak luminance of 14,532 candelas per square meter(cd/m^(2))and show a small efficiency roll-off of 7.1%(EQE=17%)at a practical high luminance of 1000 cd/m^(2).These results demonstrate the high potential of phosphonium cations as promising electron acceptors to construct TADF emitters for high-performance electroluminescence devices.The current study opens up an appealing way for future exploitation of high-efficiency ionic TADF materials.

Realizing External Quantum Efficiency over 25% with Low Efficiency Roll-Off in Polymer-Based Light-Emitting Diodes Synergistically Utilizing Intramolecular Sensitization and Bipolar Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Monomer

Since polymer-based light-emitting diodes(PLEDs)arewellsuited building blocks for large-area and low-cost flexible display equipment,state-of-the-art thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF)PLEDs are in high demand.To respond to this demand,light-emitting TADF units have initially been modified with electron-transporting units to balance the carrier transport of regiorandom TADF polymers,and simultaneously,an intramolecular sensitizing strategy has also been employed by covalently incorporating TADF sensitizers with light-emitting TADF units and hosts in conjugated polymers to accelerate the spin-flip of triplet excitons.Superior photophysical properties have been achieved by a rational regulation of the proportions of each component,achieving a photoluminescence quantumyield of 90%,an extremely high rate of reverse intersystem crossing of 3×106 s−1,and a relatively low nonradiative decay rate of around 105 s−1.As a result,the solutionprocessed PLEDs can attain an external quantum efficiency(EQE)value of 25.4%with emission peaks of around 550 nm,representing record-high performance for PLEDs.The efficiency roll-off can also be significantly suppressed,maintaining an EQE value of 24.2%at 1000 cd/m2 with ideal efficiency roll-off of lower than 5%.Encouragingly,this work provides a valid strategy to tackle the imperative need for PLEDs with high EQE and low efficiency roll-off.

Synthesis and properties of binaphthyl chiral thermally activated delayed fluorescence molecules using thioxanthone as acceptor

The currently reported axial chiral molecules based on the 3,3'-substitution of the binaphthyl skeleton are limited by intrinsic fluorescence properties,resulting in generally low device efficiencies(EQE<5%)of related organic light emitting diodes(OLEDs).Herein,we designed and synthesized four pair of chiral binaphthyl enantiomers(R/S-1-R/S-4)adopting acceptor-donor-donor-acceptor(ADDA)structure by introducing different thioxanthone modification groups on the 3,3'-position of 2,2'-dimethoxy-1,1'-binaphthalene.Among them,emitter R/S-2 and R/S-4 obtained by enhancing intramolecular charge transfer exhibited TADF characteristics due to relatively small Est of 0.12eV and 0.17eV,and relatively moderate SOC matrix elements of 0.28 cm^(-1)and 0.10 cm^(-1)between the 1CT and 3LE states.The CD spectra of these enantiomers in diluted solutions showed perfect mirror images and reasonable gabs for small organic molecules(10^(-4)-10^(-3)).And the external quantum eficiencies(EQE)of 10.9%and 8.32%for device A and B based on emitter S-2 and S-4 were highest compared with currently reported axial chiral molecules based on the 3,3'-position substitution of binaphthyl skeleton,providing simple molecular design strategies to construct efficient CP-OLED device.

Fine Tuning of Donor-Acceptor Structures in Fused-Carbazole Containing Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials towards High-Efficiency OLEDs

Comprehensive Summary Conjugated fused-ring structures have attracted extensive attention due to their high molecular rigidity to restrain excited-state relaxation and non-radiative decay,and further to enhance the luminance efficiency for emissive materials.Herein,we develop a series of donor-acceptor type thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF)emitters by introducing fused-ring 5H-benzofuro[3,2-c]carbazole(32BFCz)as electron donating unit.Through optimizing the numbers and structure of donor and acceptor moieties,three compounds named 32BFCzA,mCF3BFCzOXD and dCF3BFCzOXD are designed,which are composed by mono-32BFCz/trifluoromethylpicolinonitrile,penta-BFCz/3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)benzene and penta-32BFCz/3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)benzene as donor/acceptor groups,respectively.

Acceptor modulation for improving thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitter in through-space charge transfer on spiroskeletons

Through-space charge transfer(TSCT)is regarded as an effective way to develop thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF)emitters.Based on this strategy,many molecular frameworks have been proposed,among which spirobased scaffolds have been extensively studied due to their unique advantages.In this work,we developed three emitters SPS,SPO,and SPON,which were constructed with the same donor and various acceptors to explore the influence of acceptor modulation at the C9 position of fluorene for spirostructure TSCT emitters.The results show that the acceptor with too weak electronwithdrawing ability will cause the emitter to not have TADF properties,while the acceptor with too much steric hindrance will weaken the face-to-faceπ-πstacking interaction between donor/acceptor(D/A).Since SPO balances the electron-withdrawing strength and steric hindrance of the acceptor,it achieves the highest external quantum efficiency(EQE)of 17.75%.This work shows that appropriate acceptor selection is essential for the TADF properties and high efficiency of the spirobased scaffold TSCT emitter.

Multifunctional AIE Molecules Possessing Long-lasting Room Temperature Phosphorescence, Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence and Dual-mode Mechanochromism

Two simple donor-acceptor multifunctional pure organic light-emitting molecules[(9H-carbazol-9-yl)(4-hydroxyphenyl)-methanone(CzMP)and(4-hydroxyphenyl)(10H-phenothiazin-10-yl)methanone(PTZMP)]with distinct aggregation-induced emission(AIE)properties were synthesized.Surprisingly,CzMP showed a long room temperature phosphorescence lifetime(>900 ms),and PTZMP exhibited triple emission of prompt fluorescence(PF),room temperature phosphorescence(RTP)and thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF).Furthermore,CzMP effectively responded to mechanical external forces and solvent fumigation,exhibiting dual-mode mechanochromic luminescence(MCL)including multiple fluorescence color shifts and phosphorescence switching.Time-dependent density functional theory(TDDFT)calculations were investigated to explain different luminescence properties of the two molecules,and the single crystal of CzMP was obtained and analyzed to demonstrate the unique molecular stacking pattern and strong intermolecular interactions in close association with phosphorescence emission.The multifunctional luminescent properties of the emitters explored in this work could be more effectively applied to a wide range of applications,such as information encryption and anti-counterfeiting.

Insights into enhanced electrochemiluminescence of a multiresonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence molecule

The electrochemiluminescence(ECL)behavior of a multiresonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence molecule has been investigated for the first time by means of ECL‐voltage curves,newly designed ECL‐time observatory,and ECL spectroscopy.The compound,Mes3DiKTa,shows complex ECL behavior,including a delayed onset time of 5 ms for ECL generation in both the annihilation pathway and the coreactant route,which we attribute to organic long‐persistent ECL(OLECL).Triplet‐triplet annihilation,thermally activated delayed fluorescence and uncompensated solution resistance cannot be ruled out as contributing mechanisms to the ECL.A very long ECL emission decay was attributed to OLECL as well.The absolute ECL efficiencies of Mes3DiKTa were enhanced and reached 0.0013%in annihilation route and 1.1%for the coreactant system,which are superior to those of most other organic ECL materials.It is plausible that ECL materials with comparable behavior as Mes3DiKTa are desirable in applications such as ECL sensing,imaging,and light‐emitting devices.