Novel poly(p-phenylenevinylene) derivatives with an electron-withdrawing cyanophenyl
group on the polymer backbone, poly[2-(2‘-ethylhexyloxy)-5-(4‘-cyanophenyl)-1,4-phenylenevinylene]
(PEHCNPV) and poly[2-dimethyloctylsilyl-5-(4‘-cyanophenyl)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (PSi8CNPV), were
synthesized via the Gilch polymerization. These polymers were completely soluble in common organic
solvents and showed good thermal stability up to 400 °C. Surprisingly, they showed very high glass
transition temperatures (above 180 °C), indicating that electroluminescenece (EL) devices constructed
from these polymers should have good thermal stability. The presence of the electron-withdrawing
cyanophenyl group lowered the HOMO and LUMO energy levels of PEHCNPV and PSi8CNPV relative
to those of common PPV derivatives. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with the configuration ITO/PEDOT/polymer/LiF/Al were fabricated using the novel polymers. The LED devices based on PEHCNPV and
PSi8CNPV exhibited maximum electroluminescence at 546 and 513 nm, respectively. In particular, the
LED device containing PSi8CNPV emitted pure green light with a CIE (Commission Internationale de
L'Eclairage) chromaticity coordinate of (0.330, 0.599), which is very close to that of the standard green
(0.30, 0.60) used for high definition television (HDTV), a maximum external quantum efficiency of 0.67%,
and a maximum brightness of 2900 cd/m2.