Full-Color, Narrowband, and High-Efficiency Electroluminescence from Boron and Carbazole Embedded Polycyclic Heteroaromatics

Abstract

Herein, we demonstrate that the strategic implementation of electron-accepting tricoordinate boron and electron-donating carbazole subunits into polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) produces a family of attractive full-color luminophores that can emit narrowband and efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). A versatile modular design for these boron- and carbazole-embedded PAHs can facilitate the systematic modulation of their photophysical and optoelectronic properties. Organic light-emitting diodes that utilize these PAHs as TADF emitters demonstrate narrowband electroluminescence from blue to red, achieving high maximum external quantum efficiencies of 29.3%, 31.8%, and 22.0% for blue, green, and red, respectively.