Thiol–yne crosslinked triarylamine hole transport layers for solution-processable organic light-emitting diodes

Abstract

Triarylamine derivatives are widely used for hole transport in organic optoelectronic devices, but their excellent solubility in many common solvents limits their use for multi-layer device fabrication from solution. In this work, a novel process to the formation of conjugated triarylamine polymer thin-film networks by crosslinking of thiol-substituted and alkyne-substituted triarylamines is investigated. After deposition of the monomer blend and crosslinking under UV exposure, an insoluble thiol–yne polymer network is formed. The applicability of the thiol–yne polymer network as hole-transport layers is exemplified on organic light-emitting diodes. Its implementation reduces the device degradation as compared to OLEDs comprising hole-transport layers from PEDOT:PSS.