Molecular design of efficient yellow- to red-emissive alkynylgold(iii) complexes for the realization of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) and their applications in solution-processed organic light-emitting devices

Here, we report the design and synthesis of a new class of fused heterocyclic alkynyl ligand-containing gold(iii) complexes, which show tunable emission colors spanning from the yellow to red region in the solid state and exhibit thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) properties. These complexes display high photoluminescence quantum yields of up to 0.87 and short excited-state lifetimes in sub-microsecond timescales, yielding high radiative decay rate constants on the order of up to 10⁶ s⁻¹. The observation of the drastic enhancement in the emission intensity of the complexes with insignificant change in the excited-state lifetime upon increasing the temperature from 200 to 360 K indicates an increasing radiative decay rate. The experimentally estimated energy splitting between the lowest-lying singlet excited state (S₁) and the lowest-lying triplet excited state (T₁), ΔE_S1–T1, is found to be as small as ∼0.03 eV (250 cm⁻¹), comparable to the value of ∼0.05 eV (435 cm⁻¹) obtained from computational studies. The delicate choice of the cyclometalating ligand and the fused heterocyclic ligand is deemed the key to induce TADF through the control of the energy levels of the intraligand and the ligand-to-ligand charge transfer excited states. This work represents the realization of highly emissive yellow- to red-emitting gold(iii) TADF complexes incorporated with fused heterocyclic alkynyl ligands and their applications in organic light-emitting devices.

We report the design of a new class of fused heterocyclic alkynyl ligand-containing gold(iii) complexes, which shows tunable emission colors spanning yellow to red region and exhibits thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) properties.     

Judicious Choice of N-Heterocycles for the Realization of Sky-Blue- to Green-Emitting Carbazolylgold(III) C^C^N Complexes and Their Applications for Organic Light-Emitting Devices

A new class of sky-blue- to green-emitting carbazolylgold(III) C^C^N complexes containing pyrazole or benzimidazole moieties has been successfully designed and synthesized. Through the judicious choice of the N-heterocycles in the cyclometalating ligand and the tailor-made carbazole moieties, maximum photoluminescence quantum yields of 0.52 and 0.39 have been realized in the green- and sky-blue-emitting complexes, respectively. Solution-processed and vacuum-deposited organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) based on the benzimidazole-containing complexes have been prepared. The sky-blue-emitting device shows an emission peaking at 484 nm with a narrow full-width at half-maximum of 57 nm (2244 cm⁻¹), demonstrating the potential of this class of complexes in the application of OLEDs with high color purity. In addition, high maximum external quantum efficiencies of 12.3 % and a long operational half-lifetime of over 5300 h at 100 cd m⁻² have been achieved in the vacuum-deposited green-emitting devices.     

Lateral transport in quasiperiodically ordered layered media with isotropic randomness

We investigate the lateral wave transport in quasiperiodically ordered layer media with isotropic randomness. As an example, we consider the case of the Fibonacci sequence and study the ergodic properties in such systems. From the results of the channel occupation number of nine generations, we find that the wave transport in such systems falls between the transport of anisotropic hopping systems and that of randomly layered media and can be associated with a fractal dimension that can be tuned according to the strength of the layer coupling. The origin of this fractal dimensionality is attributed to the interplay between the quasiperiodic ordering in the layer direction and the presence of isotropic randomness in the system.     

Luminescent metal complexes of d6, d8 and d10 transition metal centres

This highlight focuses on various luminescent complexes with different transition metal centres of d(6), d(8) and d(10) electronic configurations. Through the systematic study on the variation of ligands, structural and bonding modes of different metal centres, the structure-property relationships of the various classes of luminescent transition metal complexes can be obtained. With the knowledge and fundamental understanding of their photophysical behaviours, their electronic absorption and luminescence properties can be fine-tuned. Introduction of supramolecular assembly with hierarchical complexity involving non-covalent interactions could lead to research dimensions of unlimited possibilities and opportunities. The approach of "function by design" could be employed to explore and exploit the potential applications of such luminescent transition metal complexes for future development of luminescent materials.     

Supramolecular self-assembly of amphiphilic anionic platinum(II) complexes: a correlation between spectroscopic and morphological properties

A new class of amphiphilic anionic platinum(II) bzimpy complexes has been demonstrated to show aggregation in water through Pt···Pt and π-π stacking interactions. An interesting aggregation-partial deaggregation-aggregation process and a morphological transformation from vesicles to nanofibers have been demonstrated. These changes can be systematically controlled by the variation of solvent composition and could readily be probed by UV-vis absorption, emission, NMR, transmission electron microscopy, and even with our naked eyes.     

Luminescent 1D chain of platinum(II) terpyridyl units with p-dithiobenzoquinone organometallic linker: self-aggregation imparted from Pt...Pt/pi-pi interactions

Unlike p-dithiobenzoquinone (), which is extremely reactive and has never been isolated, the metal-stabilised p-dithiobenzoquinone [Cp*Ir(eta4-C6H4S2)] () was prepared and used as an efficient organometallic linker to construct novel supramolecular assemblies. Treatment of with the electrophilic Pt(II)(terpy) building blocks produced the supramolecular assembly {[Pt(terpy){Cp*Ir-p-(eta4-C6H4S2)}Pt(terpy)][OTf]4}n (), which was fully characterised and its molecular structure was determined by X-ray crystallography. The structure of revealed the presence of pi-pi and Pt[dot dot dot]Pt interactions among individual molecules describing a 1D chain. Complex showed unusual UV/Vis absorption and luminescence behaviour at low temperature, imparted from self-aggregation mediated by pi-pi and Pt...Pt interactions.     

Highly efficient carbazolylgold(iii) dendrimers based on thermally activated delayed fluorescence and their application in solution-processed organic light-emitting devices

A new class of C^C^N ligand-containing carbazolylgold(iii) dendrimers has been designed and synthesized. High photoluminescence quantum yields of up to 82% in solid-state thin films and large radiative decay rate constants in the order of 10⁵ s⁻¹ are observed. These gold(iii) dendrimers are found to exhibit thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF), as supported by variable-temperature emission spectroscopy, time-resolved photoluminescence decay and computational studies. Solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on these gold(iii) dendrimers have been fabricated, which exhibit a maximum current efficiency of 52.6 cd A⁻¹, maximum external quantum efficiency of 15.8% and high power efficiency of 41.3 lm W⁻¹. The operational stability of these OLEDs has also been recorded, with the devices based on zero- and second-generation dendrimers showing maximum half-lifetimes of 1305 and 322 h at 100 cd m⁻², respectively, representing the first demonstration of operationally stable solution-processed OLEDs based on gold(iii) dendrimers.

A new class of carbazolylgold(iii) C^C^N dendrimers with thermally activated delayed fluorescence properties has been designed and synthesized for the realzaqtion of operationally stable solution-processed organic light-emitting devices.     

Design Strategy Towards Horizontally Oriented Luminescent Tetradentate-Ligand-Containing Gold(III) Systems

Phosphorescent dopants are promising candidates for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Although it has been established that the out-coupling efficiency and overall performances of vacuum-deposited OLEDs can be significantly improved by a horizontal orientation of the dopants, no horizontally oriented gold(III) complexes have been reported to date. Herein, a novel class of tetradentate C^C^N^N ligand-containing gold(III) complexes with a preferential horizontal orientation successfully generated through a one-pot reaction is reported. These complexes demonstrate high photoluminescence quantum yields of 70 % and a high horizontal dipole ratio of 0.87 in solid-state thin films. Green-emitting OLEDs based on these complexes operate with a maximum external quantum efficiency of 20.6 % with an estimated out-coupling efficiency of around 30 %. A promising device stability has been achieved in the vacuum-deposited OLEDs, with operational half-lifetimes of around 37 500 h at 100 cd m⁻².     

Structure, photophysical properties and computational study of a highly luminescent mixed-metal platinum(II)-silver(I) system. Potential building blocks for emissive supramolecular structures

A luminescent cyclometalated platinum(II) complex has been shown to sandwich a silver ion, which demonstrates intense luminescence with appreciable photoluminescence quantum yield. Computational studies have been performed to provide insights into the nature of the photophysical properties.