Structurally Nontraditional Benzo[c]cinnoline‐Based Electron‐Transporting Materials with 3D Molecular Interaction Architecture

Abstract

The academically widely used electron‐transporting materials (ETMs) typically suffer from low glass transition temperatures (Tg) that could lead to poor device stability. Considering practical applications, we herein put forward a “3D molecular interaction architecture” strategy to design high‐performance ETMs. As a proof‐of‐concept, a type of structurally nontraditional ETMs with the benzo[c]cinnoline (BZC) skeleton have been proposed and synthesized by the C−H/C−H homo‐coupling of N‐acylaniline as the key step. 2,9‐diphenylbenzo[c]cinnoline (DPBZC) exhibits strong intermolecular interactions that feature a 3D architecture, which boosts Tg to exceedingly high 218 °C with a fast electron mobility (μe) of 6.4×10−4 cm2 V−1 s−1. DPBZC‐based fluorescent organic light‐emitting diodes show outstanding electroluminescent performances with an external quantum efficiency of 20.1 % and a power efficiency as high as 70.6 lm W−1, which are superior to those of the devices with the commonly used ETMs.