A new class of non-conjugated bipolar hybrid hosts for phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes

Abstract

Comprising hole- and electron-transporting moieties with flexible linkages, representative non-conjugated bipolar hybrids have been synthesized and characterized for a demonstration of their potential use as host materials for the fabrication of phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes. The advantages of this material class include solution processing into amorphous films with elevated glass transition temperatures, stability against phase separation and crystallization, and provision of LUMO/HOMO levels and triplet energies contributed by the two independent moieties without constraint by the electrochemical energy gap. While exciplex formation between the hole- and electron-transporting moieties is inevitable, its adverse effects on spectral purity and device efficiency can be avoided by trapping charges on triplet emitters, as demonstrated for Ir(mppy)₃ in TRZ-3Cz(MP)2, and TRZ-1Cz(MP)2. With these two bipolar hybrids and hole-transporting Cz(MP)2 as the host, the maximum current efficiency of the bilayer PhOLED is achieved with TRZ-3Cz(MP)2, but the driving voltage decreases monotonically with an increasing TRZ content.