Towards Printed Organic Light‐Emitting Devices: A Solution‐Stable, Highly Soluble Cu^I–NHetPHOS

Abstract

The development of iridium-free, yet efficient emitters with thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) was an important step towards mass production of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Progress is currently impeded by the low solubility and low chemical stability of the materials. Herein, we present a Cu^I -based TADF emitter that is sufficiently chemically stable under ambient conditions and can be processed by printing techniques. The solubility is drastically enhanced (to 100 g L^-1 ) in relevant printing solvents. The integrity of the complex is preserved in solution, as was demonstrated by X-ray absorption spectroscopy and other techniques. In addition, it was found that the optoelectronic properties are not affected even when partly processing under ambient conditions. As a highlight, we present a TADF-based OLED device that reached an efficiency of 11±2 % external quantum efficiency (EQE).