Poly[(9,))] (TFB) has been widely used as a hole transport layer (HTL) material in cadmium-based quantum dot lightemitting diodes (QLEDs) because of its high hole mobility. However, as the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level of TFB is −5.4 eV, the hole injection from TFB to the quantum dot (QD) layer is higher than 1.5 eV. Such a high oxidation potential at the QD/HTL interface may seriously degrade the device lifetime. In addition, TFB is not resistant to most solvents, which limits its application in inkjet-printed QLED display. In this study, the blended HTL consisting of TFB and cross-linkable small molecular 4,4′-bis(3-vinyl-9H-carbazol-9-yl)-1,1′-biphenyl (CBP-V) was introduced into red QLEDs because of the deep HOMO energy level of CBP-V (−6.2 eV). Compared with the TFB-only devices, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of devices with the blended HTL improved from 15.9 to 22.3% without the increase of turn-on voltage for spin-coating-fabricated devices. Furthermore, the blended HTL prolonged the T90 and T70 lifetime from 5.4 and 31.1 to 39.4 and 148.9 h, respectively. These enhancements in lifetime are attributed to the low hole-injection barrier at the HTL/QD interface and high thermal stability of the blended HTL after cross-linking. Moreover, the cross-linked blended HTL showed excellent solvent resistance after crosslinking, and the EQE of the inkjet-printed red QLEDs reached 16.9%.
A series of new fused‐heterocycle phenanthrene derivatives, namely 9‐(o‐benzofuryl)phenanthrene (Compd. 1), 9,10‐bis(o‐benzofuryl)phenanthrene (Compd. 2), 9‐(o‐dibenzofuryl)phenanthrene (Compd. 3) and 9‐(o‐benzothienyl)phenanthrene (Compd. 4) were designed and synthesized in an effort to obtain aggregation‐induced emission enhancement (AIEE) of ultraviolet (UV) light. The results have shown that Compd. 1 and 2 possess the AIEE of UV‐blue light while Compd. 3 presents UV‐AIEE characteristic. However, Compd. 4 is AIEE‐inactive due to sulfur's heavy atom effect. Based on the absorption and fluorescence in both solution and aggregation, it was found that there is no direct correlation of the intramolecular change‐transfer (ICT) and AIEE properties. Associated with the single‐crystal analyses, it was confirmed that the twisted molecular configuration leading to rigid stacking arrangement with larger intermolecular distance is not immediately relevent to AIEE intensity. It was the degree of the restricted intramolecular rotation (DRIR) in the aggregation that shows direct proportional to the AIEE intensity, in the order of Compd. 1 (5.4‐fold increase) > Compd. 3 (3.2‐fold increase) > Compd. 2 (2.6‐fold increase). UV electroluminescence (EL) from organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) consisting of Compd. 3 as emitting layer was firstly reported.
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