No abstract

Efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) has been characterized for a carbazole/sulfone derivative in both solutions and doped films. A pure blue organic light emitting diode (OLED) based on this compound demonstrates a very high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of nearly 10% at low current density. Because TADF only occurs in a bipolar system where donor and acceptor centered (3)ππ* states are close to or higher than the triplet intramolecular charge transfer ((3)CT) state, control of the π-conjugation length of both donor and acceptor is considered to be as important as breaking the π-conjugation between them in blue TADF material design.

Our work reveals a high dependence on charge-transfer (CT) amounts for the optimal Hartree-Fock percentage in the exchange-correlation functional of time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) and the error of a vertical transition energy calculated by a given functional. Using these relations, the zero-zero transition energies of the first singlet and first triplet excited states of various CT compounds are accurately reproduced. (3)CT and locally excited triplet ((3)LE) states are well distinguished and calculated independently.

The temperature dependence of luminescence from [Cu(dnbp)(DPEPhos)]BF4 (dnbp = 2,9‐di‐n‐butylphenanthroline, DPEPhos = bis[2‐(diphenylphosphino)phenyl]ether) in a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) film indicates the presence of long‐life green emission arising from two thermally equilibrated charge transfer (CT) excited states and one non‐equilibrated triplet ligand center (3LC) excited state. At room temperature, the lower triplet CT state is found to be the predominantly populated excited state, and the zero‐zero energy of this state is found to be 2.72 eV from the onset of its emission at 80 K. The tunable emission maximum of [Cu(dnbp)(DPEPhos)]BF4 in various hosts with different triplet energies is explained in terms of the multiple triplet energy levels of this complex in amorphous films. Using the high triplet energy charge transport material as a host and an exciton‐blocking layer (EBL), a [Cu(dnbp)(DPEPhos)]BF4 based organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) achieves a high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 15.0%, which is comparable to values for similar devices based on Ir(ppy)3 and FIrpic. The photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) performance of green emissive [Cu(μI)dppb]2 (dppb = 1,2‐bis[diphenylphosphino]benzene) in organic semiconductor films confirmed its 3CT state with a zero‐zero energy of 2.76 eV as the predominant population excited state.

A novel approach to toughen epoxy resin with lignin, a common waste material from the pulp and paper industry, is presented in this article. First, carboxylic acid-functionalized alkali lignin (AL-COOH) was prepared and subsequently incorporated into anhydride-cured epoxy networks via a one-pot method. The results of mechanical tests show that covalent incorporation of rigid AL-COOH into epoxy networks can significantly toughen the epoxy matrix without deteriorating its tensile strength and modulus. The addition of 1.0 wt % AL-COOH gives increases of 68 and 164% in the critical stress intensity factor (K(IC)) and critical strain energy release rate (G(IC)), respectively, relative to that of neat epoxy. This article opens up the possibility of utilizing low-cost and renewable lignin feedstocks as effective toughening agents for thermoset polymers.