Non-Doped Deep-Blue OLEDs Based on Carbazole-π-Imidazole Derivatives

Novel Fluorescent Tetrahedral Zinc (II) Complexes Derived from 4-Phenyl-1-octyl-1H-imidazole Fused with Aryl-9H-Carbazole and Triarylamine Donor Units: Synthesis, Crystal Structures, and Photophysical Properties

We present here the design, synthesis, and photophysical properties of two novel fluorescent zinc (II) complexes, ZnCl2(ImL1)2 and ZnCl2(ImL2)2, containing 4-(1-octyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)-N,N-diphenyl-[1,1-biphenyl]-4-yl)-4-amine ImL1 and 9-(4-(1-octyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)-[1,1-biphenyl]-4-yl)-9H-carbazole ImL2 ligands. The newly synthesized free ligands and their zinc (II) complexes were characterized using several spectroscopic techniques; their structures were identified by single-crystal X-ray diffraction; and their photophysical properties have been studied in the context of their chemical structure. The ZnCl2(ImL1)2 and ZnCl2(ImL2)2 complexes showed good thermal stability at 341 °C and 365 °C, respectively. Photophysical properties, including UV-Vis absorption spectra in ethanol solution and photoluminescence (PL) in both solid state and ethanol solution, were determined. UV-Vis adsorption data indicated that both free ligands had similar UV-Vis absorption properties, while their Zn (II) complexes had distinctive absorption characteristics. The fluorescence spectra show that both ligands and their corresponding Zn (II) complexes emit violet to cyan luminescence in the solid state at room temperature, while in ethanol solution at the same temperature, they exhibit efficient photoluminescence properties in the UV-A emission spectral region. Because of these photophysical properties, the synthesized ligands and their cognate Zn (II) complexes can be used as scaffolds for the potential development of optoelectronic materials.

The Role of Intermolecular Interaction on Aggregation-Induced Emission Phenomenon and OLED Performance

In this work, the role of intermolecular interaction on the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) phenomenon and organic light-emitting diodes' (OLEDs) performance was investigated. During the research, a group of compounds consisting of the (-CH=C(CN)(COOR)) moiety with identical energy parameters was designed using the DFT approach and successfully synthesized. The optical, electrochemical, and aggregation-induced emission properties were studied. The aggregation-induced emission of compounds has been studied in the mixture of MeCN (as a good solvent) and water (as a poor solvent) with different water fractions ranging from 0% to 99%. Moreover, the time dependence on the AIE feature was also evaluated. Thanks to their molecular structures, almost identical behavior of these substances in dilute solutions was observed. For molecules that exhibit the strong AIE phenomenon, emission efficiency increases rapidly during aggregation. What is also very interesting is it has been shown that by introducing an appropriate substituent, one can control the degree of intermolecular interactions and "control" the length of the emitted wave. Finally, OLEDs were fabricated by the spin-coating/evaporation hybrid method. Devices showed green-blueish electroluminescence (CIE coordinates: 0.107, 0.165) with maximum luminance reaching 25 cd m^-2 and EQE reaching 2%.

Photoluminescent polymer micelles with thermo-/pH-/metal responsibility and their features in selective optical sensing of Pd(ii) cations

Photoluminescent polymers can be divided into two types of structures: one is the well-known conventional π-conjugated rigid chain polymers bearing π-conjugated chromophores in their side chains, and the other is the common flexible polymers without π-conjugated chromophores in their main or side chains but with a feature of clustering electron-rich and/or dipole groups in their main and/or side chains. In this work, we found a new photoluminescent polymer comprising theophylline (T) and imidazole (I) residues in a suitable ratio in the side chains on the common polystyrenic block (PVB-T/I). We synthesized a block copolymer (denoted as P2) consisting of hydrophobic PVB-T/I and hydrophilic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), and we investigated its self-assembly into micelles and their micellar features, such as thermo-responsibility, fluorescence emission, pH, and metal ion-dependent photoluminescence, in detail. Especially, the micelles self-assembled from P2 showed intrinsic blue emission which was emitted from the charge transfer association between T and I residues in the intra-chains. Weakening the association by adjustment of the pH or addition of metal ions could evidently reduce the photoluminescence in the micellar state. Very interestingly, among many metal cations, only Pd2+, which can chelate strongly with theophylline, strongly quenched the photoluminescence from the micelles. Therefore, the polymer micelles functioned as an optical sensor for Pd(ii) ion not only by spectroscopy but also with the naked eye.

2,7(3,6)-Diaryl(arylamino)-substituted Carbazoles as Components of OLEDs: A Review of the Last Decade

Organic light emitting diode (OLED) is a new, promising technology in the field of lighting and display applications due to the advantages offered by its organic electroactive derivatives over inorganic materials. OLEDs have prompted a great deal of investigations within academia as well as in industry because of their potential applications. The electroactive layers of OLEDs can be fabricated from low molecular weight derivatives by vapor deposition or from polymers by spin coating from their solution. Among the low-molar-mass compounds under investigation in this field, carbazole-based materials have been studied at length for their useful chemical and electronic characteristics. The carbazole is an electron-rich heterocyclic compound, whose structure can be easily modified by rather simple reactions in order to obtain 2,7(3,6)-diaryl(arylamino)-substituted carbazoles. The substituted derivatives are widely used for the formation of OLEDs due to their good charge carrier injection and transfer characteristics, electroluminescence, thermally activated delayed fluorescence, improved thermal and morphological stability as well as their thin film forming characteristics. On the other hand, relatively high triplet energies of some substituted carbazole-based compounds make them useful components as host materials even for wide bandgap triplet emitters. The present review focuses on 2,7(3,6)-diaryl(arylamino)-substituted carbazoles, which were described in the last decade and were applied as charge-transporting layers, fluorescent and phosphorescent emitters as well as host materials for OLED devices.