Synthesis and Characterization of an Electroluminescent Polyester Containing the Ru(II) Complex

Abstract

A new electroluminescent polyester based on an electrochemically stable polypyridylruthenium(II) complex was prepared by the step-growth polymerization method. The versatility of changing its solubility by changing counteranions makes it possible to prepare thin-film devices by either spin-coating or the self-assembly technique. Single-layer LEDs fabricated from this polymer by the spin-coating method showed bright orange-red emission with a maximum luminance level of 300 cd/m2. Self-assembled multilayers of this material exhibit external quantum efficiencies close to 1%.