Near-infrared
(NIR) thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF)
materials have shown great application potential in organic light-emitting
diodes, photovoltaics, sensors, and biomedicine. However, their fluorescence
efficiency (ΦF) is still highly inferior to those
of conventional NIR fluorescent dyes, seriously hindering their applications.
This study aims to provide theoretical guidance and experimental verification
for highly efficient NIR-TADF molecular design. First, the light-emitting
mechanism of two deep-red TADF molecules is revealed using first-principles
calculation and the thermal vibration correlation function (TVCF)
method. Then several acceptors are theoretically designed by changing
the position of the cyano group or by introducing the phenanthroline
into CNBPz, and 44 molecules are designed and studied theoretically.
The photophysical properties of DA-3 in toluene and the amorphous
state are simulated using a multiscale method combined with the TVCF
method. The NIR-TADF property for DA-3 is predicted both in toluene
and in the amorphous state. Experimental measurement further confirms
that the TADF emission wavelength of DA-3 is 730 nm and ΦF is as high as 20%. It is the highest fluorescence efficiency
reported for TADF molecules with emission wavelengths larger than
700 nm in toluene. Our work provides an effective molecular design
strategy, and a good candidate for highly efficient NIR-TADF emitters
is also predicted.