Polynorbornene Copolymer with Side-Chain Iridium(III) Emitters and Carbazole Hosts: A Single Emissive Layer Material for Highly Efficient Electrophosphorescent Devices

Luminescent carbene-copper(i)-amide polymers for efficient host-free solution-processed OLEDs

Luminescent metallopolymers have attracted broad interest in the fields of healthcare and organic electronics. However, polymeric emitters based on earth-abundant metal complexes are scarce. Here, two series of Cu(i) polymers, PMAC-x and PCAAC-x (x = 1-3) have been developed using two kinds of Cu(i)-based carbene-metal-amide (CMA) complexes as side-chain emitter units to combine with a nonconjugated polystyrene backbone. These Cu(i) polymers emit via distinct thermally activated delayed fluorescence or dominant phosphorescence, inherited from the grafted Cu(i)-based CMA units. Particularly, the PMAC-x polymers exhibit high photoluminescence quantum efficiencies of up to 0.78, short emission lifetimes of down to 0.66 μs, and fast radiative rates of up to 106 s-1 in neat films. Thanks to the good encapsulation effect of the polystyrene backbone, these Cu(i) polymers not only demonstrate favorable moisture stability but also show significant aggregation-induced emission. The resultant host-free solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) achieve outstanding electroluminescence performance with a record external quantum efficiency of 13.8% at a practical luminance of ∼100 nits, representing state-of-the-art device efficiency for metallopolymer-based OLEDs. This work not only presents the first example of CMA polymers but also provides the future direction of polymeric emitters from earth-abundant metal complexes for the OLED application.

Dual emission from an iridium(III) complex/counter anion ion pair

[Ir(tpy)2](PF6)3 (tpy = 2,2':6',2''-terpyridine) dissolved in CH3CN was found to exhibit dual color luminescent emission depending on the excitation wavelength. Specifically, blue and green emissions were obtained with excitation at 350 and 410 nm, respectively. Because the associated emission spectra were consistent with those of [Ir(tpy)2]Cl3 in water and [Ir(tpy)2](PF6)3 in the crystalline state, respectively, this dual emission is attributed to emissions from the [Ir(tpy)2]3+ cation and its ion pair [Ir(tpy)2]3+·PF6-. The emission is assigned to the 3π-π* transition of the ligands based on time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations. Conversely, [Ir(tpy)2]I3 in CH3CN shows emission due to [Ir(tpy)2]3+ but not [Ir(tpy)2]3+·I-, while crystalline [Ir(tpy)2]I3 emits red luminescence at 77 K that is inconsistent with that from [Ir(tpy)2]3+. Since the emission energies of crystalline [Ir(tpy)2]X3 (X- = Cl-, Br- or I-) show a good correlation with the electron affinity of X, the emissions are assigned to a counter anion to complex ion charge-transfer transition. This hypothesis is supported by TD-DFT calculations regarding [Ir(tpy)2]3+·X-.

Cyclometalated rhodium and iridium complexes with imidazole containing Schiff bases: Synthesis, structure and cellular imaging

Cyclometalated rhodium(III) and iridium(III) complexes (1-4) of two Schiff base ligands L1 and L2 with the general formula [M(ppy)2(Ln)]Cl {M = Rh, Ir; ppy = 2-phenylpyridine; n = 1, 2; L = Schiff base ligand} have been synthesized. The new ligands and the complexes have been characterized with spectroscopic techniques. Electrochemistry of the complexes revealed anodic behavior, corresponding to an M(III) to M(IV) oxidation. The X-ray crystal structures of complexes 2 and 4 have also been determined to interpret the coordination behavior of the complexes. Photophysical study shows that all the complexes display fluorescence at room temperature with quantum yield of about 3 × 10-2 to 5 × 10-2. The electronic absorption spectra of all the complexes fit well with the computational studies. Cellular imaging studies were done with the newly synthesized complexes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of organometallic complexes of rhodium(III) and iridium(III) with Schiff base ligands explored for cellular imaging. Emphasis of this work lies on the structural features, photophysical behavior, cellular uptake and imaging of the fluorescent transition metal complexes.

High Triplet Energy Level Achieved by Tuning the Arrangement of Building Blocks in Phosphorescent Polymer Backbones for Furnishing High Electroluminescent Performances in Both Blue and White Organic Light-Emitting Devices

A high triplet energy level (E_T) of ca. 2.83 eV has been achieved in a novel polymer backbone through tuning the arrangement of two kinds of building blocks, showing enhanced hole injection/transporting capacity. Based on this new polymer backbone with high E_T, both blue and white phosphorescent polymers were successfully developed with a trade-off between high E_T and enhanced charge-carrier transporting ability. In addition, their photophysical features, electrochemical behaviors, and electroluminescent (EL) properties have been characterized in detail. Benefitting from the advantages associated with the novel polymer backbone, the blue phosphorescent polymers show top-ranking EL performances with a maximum luminance efficiency (η_L) of 15.22 cd A^-1, corresponding to a power efficiency (η_P) of 12.64 lm W^-1, and external quantum efficiency (η_ext) of 6.22% and the stable Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.19, 0.38). Furthermore, blue-orange (B-O) complementary-colored white phosphorescent polymers based on this novel polymer backbone were also obtained showing encouraging EL efficiencies of 12.34 cd A^-1, 9.59 lm W^-1, and 4.10% in the optimized WOLED together with exceptionally stable CIE coordinates of (Δx = 0.014, Δy = 0.010) in a wide driving voltage range from 4 to 16 V. All of these attractive EL results achieved by these novel phosphorescent polymers show the great potential of this new polymer backbone in developing highly efficient phosphorescent polymers.

Microwave-assisted green synthesis of some nanoconjugated copolymers: characterisation and fluorescence quenching studies with bovine serum albumin

The copolymer POPD-co-PNA quenches BSA fluorescence revealing many of its photophysical characteristics including a higher association constant and its scintillating presence on the latter.

Side-chain conjugated polymers for use in the active layers of hybrid semiconducting polymer/quantum dot light emitting diodes

Three monomers,M1–M3, with modified carbazole cores and styrene functionality were polymerized by RAFT. The polymers were then used in the active layers of hybrid polymer/quantum dot light emitting diodes.

Novel quaternary ammonium functional addition-type norbornene copolymer as hydroxide-conductive and durable anion exchange membrane for direct methanol fuel cells

Novel quaternary ammonium functional addition-type norbornene copolymers, and their anion exchange membranes with effective hydrophilic–hydrophobic separation and well performance suitable for direct methanol fuel cells application are achieved.

Enhancing the electroluminescence performances of novel platinum(ii) polymetallayne-based phosphorescent polymers through employing functionalized IrIII phosphorescent units and facilitating triplet energy transfer

Novel phosphorescent polymers are developed with platinum(ii) polymetallayne-based backbones bearing functionalized Ir^III phosphorescent units to promote highly efficient triplet state energy-transfer and achieve high EL performances.

Platinum(ii) polymetallayne-based phosphorescent polymers with enhanced triplet energy-transfer: synthesis, photophysical, electrochemistry, and electrophosphorescent investigation

Promoting triplet energy-transfer in novel phosphorescent polymers with platinum(ii) polymetallayne backbones to achieve high EL performances with η_L of 11.49 cd A⁻¹, η_ext of 4.38% and η_P of 3.78 lm W⁻¹.