High-efficiency blue light-emitting diodes based on a polyphenylphenyl compound with strong electron-accepting groups

The synthesis and characterization of two new polyphenylphenyl compounds is reported. One compound (CPP) acts as a blue light-emitting material, but contains strong electron-accepting groups that form exciplexes with electron-donating arylamines that are widely used as hole-transporting materials. Inserting a layer of the other compound into the organic light-emitting diodes (see figure) suppresses the formation of exciplexes, and gives high-efficiency blue-light emission from the CPP layer.

Configuration-dependent diffusion can shift the kinetic transition state and barrier height of protein folding

We show that diffusion can play an important role in protein-folding kinetics. We explicitly calculate the diffusion coefficient of protein folding in a lattice model. We found that diffusion typically is configuration- or reaction coordinate-dependent. The diffusion coefficient is found to be decreasing with respect to the progression of folding toward the native state, which is caused by the collapse to a compact state constraining the configurational space for exploration. The configuration- or position-dependent diffusion coefficient has a significant contribution to the kinetics in addition to the thermodynamic free-energy barrier. It effectively changes (increases in this case) the kinetic barrier height as well as the position of the corresponding transition state and therefore modifies the folding kinetic rates as well as the kinetic routes. The resulting folding time, by considering both kinetic diffusion and the thermodynamic folding free-energy profile, thus is slower than the estimation from the thermodynamic free-energy barrier with constant diffusion but is consistent with the results from kinetic simulations. The configuration- or coordinate-dependent diffusion is especially important with respect to fast folding, when there is a small or no free-energy barrier and kinetics is controlled by diffusion.Including the configurational dependence will challenge the transition state theory of protein folding.

Molecular design on highly efficient white electroluminescence from a single-polymer system with simultaneous blue, green, and red emission

A highly efficient white electroluminescent polymer with simultaneous blue, green, and red emission is reported, developed using a dopant/host strategy by covalently attaching both a green- and a red-light-emitting dopant to the side chain of a blue-light-emitting polymer host (see figure). In a single-layer device a maximum luminance efficiency of 7.3 cd A(-1) with CIE coordinates of (0.31,0.32) is achieved.

Three-color white electroluminescence from a single polymer system with blue, green and red dopant units as individual emissive species and polyfluorene as individual polymer host

A white electroluminescent single polymer system with both high electroluminescence efficiency and excellent color rendering index (CRI) value is developed by covalently attaching blue, green, and red dopant units as individual light-emitting species to the side chain of polyfluorene as individual polymer host. A luminous efficiency of 8.6 cd A(-1), CIE coordinates of (0.33, 0.36) and CRI value of 88 was demonstrated with their single-layer devices.

White electroluminescence from a single-polymer system with simultaneous two-color emission: Polyfluorene as blue host and 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole derivatives as orange dopants on the side chain

Four single polymers with two kinds of attachment of orange chromophore to blue polymer host for white electroluminescence (EL) were designed. The effect of the side-chain attachment and main-chain attachment on the EL efficiencies of the resulting polymers was compared. The side-chain-type single polymers are found to exhibit more efficient white EL than that of the main-chain-type single polymers. Based on the side-chain-type white single polymer with 4-(4-alkyloxy-phenyl)-7-(4-diphenylamino-phenyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazoles as the orange-dopant unit and polyfluorene as the blue polymer host, white EL with simultaneous orange (lambda(max) = 545 nm) and blue emission (lambda(max) = 432 nm/460 nm) is realised. A single-layer device (indium tin oxide/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/polymer/Ca/Al) made of these polymers emits white light with the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage coordinates of (0.30,0.40), possesses a turn-on voltage of 3.5 V, luminous efficiency of 10.66 cd A(-1), power efficiency of 6.68 lm W-1, and a maximum brightness of 21240 cd m(-2).

A new 1D metal-organic coordination polymer with blue fluorescent emission: [Cd-2(1,10 '-phen)(2)(betc)(H2O)](n)

A new coordination polymer [Cd-2(1,10'-phen)(2)(betc)(H2O)](n) (1) (betc = benzene-1,2,4,5-tetracarboxylate, 1,10'-phen = 1,10'-phenanthroline) was hydrothermally synthesized from CdCl2.2.5H(2)O, H(4)betc and 1,10'-phen at 160 degreesC. It was characterized by IR, XPS, TG and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compound 1 possesses infinite chair-like chains which construct 3D framework through pi-pi interactions and the hydrogen bond interactions. The fluorescent spectrum study shows that compound 1 exhibits blue fluorescent emission in the solid at room temperature.

Blue light-emitting poly(fluorene-co-benzene) containing an oxadiazole moiety

A new kind of polyfluorene containing oxadiazole as the side chain was synthesized. The introduction of oxadiazole moiety as more bulky group prevents the aggregation and reduces the crystallinity of the polymers. Efficient intramolecular energy transfer from oxadiazole moiety to the conjugated backbone has been realized, leading to 70% improvement of photoluminescence quantum efficiency of the designed polymers. Compared with PAF, the PFOXD exhibits significant improvement in electroluminescence properties, with luminous efficiency of 0.8 cd/A and maximum luminance of 1800 cd/m(2).

Functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes with Prussian blue

Chemical functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) has constructed plenty of new structures with ample new properties into them. But the modification was often confined to organic molecules, either by covalence or non-covalence. In this report, SWNTs were successfully functionalized with one kind of electroactive inorganic compounds: Prussian blue (PB). And the molecular interactions between them were firstly investigated. Interestedly, pi-pi stacking interaction coupled with ionic interaction was found between SWNTs and PB. The electrochemical properties of SWNTs-PB were also investigated. It would pave a new pathway to manipulate molecular entities of SWNTs by cooperation with functional inorganic electroactive compounds.

White electrolumineseence from a single-polymer system with simultaneous two-color emission: Polyfluorene as the blue host and a 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole derivative as the orange dopant on the main chain

New single-polymer electroluminescent systems containing two individual emission species - polyfluorenes as a blue host and 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole derivative units as an orange dopant on the main chain - have been designed and synthesized. The resulting single polymers are found to have highly efficient white electroluminescence with simultaneous blue(lambda(max) = 421 nm/445 nm) and orange emission (lambda(max) = 564 nm)from the corresponding emitting species. The influence of the photoluminescence (PL) efficiencies of both the blue and orange species on the electroluminescence (EL) efficiencies of white polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) based on the single-polymer systems has been investigated. The introduction of the highly efficient 4,7-bis(4-(N-phenyl-N-(4-methylphenyl)amino)phenyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole unit to the main chain of polyfluorene provides significant improvement in EL efficiency. For a single-layer device fabricated in air (indium tin oxide/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrene sulfonic acid/polymer/Ca/Al), pure-white electroluminescence with Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.35,0.32), maximum brightness of 12 300 cd m(-2), luminance efficiency of 7.30 cd A(-1), and power efficiency of 3.34 lm W-1 can be obtained.

Blue light-emitting polymer with polyfluorene as the host and highly fluorescent 4-dimethylamino-1,8-naphthalimide as the dopant in the sidechain

The dopant/host concept, which is an efficient approach to enhance the electroluminescence (EL) efficiency and stability for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) devices, has been applied to design efficient and stable blue light-emitting polymers. By covalently attaching 0.2 mol % highly fluorescent 4-dimethylamino-1,8-naphthalimide (DMAN) unit (photoluminescence quantum efficiency: Phi(PL)=0.84) to the pendant chain of polyfluorene, an efficient and colorfast blue light-emitting polymer with a dopant/host system and a molecular dispersion feature was developed. The single-layer device (indium tin oxide/PEDOT/polymer/Ca/Al) exhibited the maximum luminance efficiency of 6.85 cd/A and maximum power efficiency of 5.38 lm/W with the CIE coordinates of (0.15, 0.19). Moreover, no undesired long-wavelength green emission was observed in the EL spectra when the device was thermal annealed in air at 180 degrees C for 1 h before cathode deposition. These significant improvements in both efficiency and color stability are due to the charge trapping and energy transfer from polyfluorene host to highly fluorescent DMAN dopant in the molecular level.

Efficient blue electroluminescence from neutral alcohol-soluble polyfluorenes with aluminum cathode

Efficient blue polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) have been fabricated with a neutral alcohol-soluble polyfluorene, i.e., poly(9,9-bis(6(')-diethoxylphosphorylhexyl)fluorene) (PF-EP), as the emitting layer, high work-function Al as the cathode, and poly(vinyl carbazole) as the hole-transporting layer. The PLEDs display a maximum luminous efficiency of 4.0 cd/A and the luminous efficiency > 2.4 cd/A in a wide range of current densities. It is found that the promising performance of the devices is attributed to the fact that the PF-EP is not only an efficient blue light-emitting polymer, but it also can facilitate efficient electron injection at the Al/PF-EP interface.

Poly(aryl ether)s containing ter- and pentafluorene pendants for efficient blue light emission

Four novel thermally stable poly(aryl ether)s, e.g., P3F, P5F, P2A3F, and P2A5K containing ter- or pentafluorene units in the side chains for efficient blue light emission have been designed and synthesized. All the polymers show the optical properties identical to the corresponding monomers and are amorphous with higher glass transition temperature (T-g) than their monomeric Counterparts. The polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) were fabricated with the device structure of ITO/(PEDOT:PSS)/polymer/Ca/Al. The incorporation of diphenylamine group to oligofluorene terminals significantly reduces the hole-injection energy barrier in PLEDs. The devices based on P2A3F and P2A5F show the luminous efficiencies of 1.2 and 2.0 cd/A at a brightness of 300 cd/m(2) with the Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.15, 0.13) and (0.19, 0.20), respectively. All these indicate that the high-performance light-emitting polymers can be synthesized with the traditional condensation polymerization through careful design of polymer structures.

Synthesis and characterization of blue-light-emitting poly(aryl ether)s containing oligofluorenes in the main chain

A series of blue light-emitting poly(aryl ether)s (PAEs) containing ter- or pentafluorenes in the main chain have been synthesized via nucleophilic substitution polycondensation reaction. The energy levels of the polymers were tuned by introducing hole-transporting triaryamine groups in the side chains and/or incorporating electron-transporting oxadiazole segments in the main chain. The optical properties of the polymers are dominantly determined by the well-defined oligofluorene segments, and therefore all polymers show high photoluminescence quantum yield. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) characterizations indicate that they are vitrified polymers with high glass transition temperature (up to 156 degrees C). The polymers comprising pentafluorenes exhibit electroluminescent properties equal to or better than fully conjugated fluorene homopolymers. With the device structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer/Ca/Al, an external quantum efficiency of 1.4% along with Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.17, 0.09) has

Synthesis and characterization of new carbazole/fluorene-based derivatives for blue-light-emitting devices

2,7-Bis(9-ethylcarbazol-3-yl)-9,9-di(2-ethylhexyl)fluorene and a segmented copolymer composed of the same chromophores alternated with hexamethylene fragments were synthesized. The obtained materials possess good solubility in common organic solvents, high thermal stability with 1% weight loss temperature of 350-370 degrees C, and suitable glass transition temperatures. Both derivatives show blue fluorescence in dilute solutions as well as in solid state, demonstrating that excimers are not formed in the thin films. The fluorescence spectra of the materials do not show any peaks in the long-wavelength region even after annealing at 200 degrees C in air. An organic LED with the configuration of ITO/copolymer/Al generates blue electroluminescence with the maximum peak at 416 nm, rather low turn-on voltage (4.0 V), and brightness of about 400 cd/m(2). The heterostructure device based on model derivative emitted stable blue light with low operation voltage (100 cd/m(2) at similar to 11 V) and demonstrated luminescence efficiency of 0.8 cd/A.

Tuning of emission: Synthesis, structure and photophysical properties of imidazole, oxazole and thiazole-based iridium (III) complexes

Three new iridium (III) complexes with two cyclometalated (CN)-N-boolean AND ligands (imidazole, oxazole and thiazole-based, respectively) and one acetylacetone (acac) ancillary ligand have been synthesized and fully characterized. The structure of the thiazole-based complex has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The Ir center was located in a distorted octahedral environment by three chelating ligands with the N-N in the trans and C-C in the cis configuration. By changing the hetero-atom of (CN)-N-boolean AND ligands the order S, O and N, a marked and systematic hypsochromic shift of the maximum emission peak of the complexes was realized. The imidazole-based complex emits at a wavelength of 500 nm, which is in the blue to green region. The tuning of emission wavelengths is consistent with the variation of the energy gap estimated front electrochemistry results. An electroluminescent device using the thiazole-based complex as a dopant in the emitting layer has been fabricated. A highly efficient yellow emission with a maximum luminous efficiency of 9.8 cd/A at a current density of 24.2 mA/cm(2) and a maximum brightness of 7985 cd/m(2) at 19.6 V has been achieved.