High-efficiency solution processable electrophosphorescent iridium complexes bearing polyphenylphenyl dendron ligands

We report the synthesis and electrophosphorescent behavior of a series of novel iridium complex materials (Complexes A–F), which are composed of ligands bearing polyphenylphenyl dendron groups and acetylacetonate. Yellow to saturated red organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on these newly developed Ir complexes were fabricated through solution process by doping the complex materials into polyvinyl carbazole (PVK)/2-(4-biphenylyl)-5-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (PBD) matrices. The emission wavelengths of the materials could be effectively tuned from 549 nm to 640 nm by changing the conjugation of the ligands either through incorporating additional aromatic segment (e.g. phenyl or fluorenyl group) onto the basic dendron ligand or fusing two of the phenyl rings on the polyphenylphenyl dendron group. High performance devices with the configuration of ITO/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS) (50 nm)/PVK:PBD (40%):Ir complex (6%) (70 nm)/2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (BCP) (12 nm)/Alq₃ (20 nm)/Mg:Ag (150 nm) have been demonstrated. For example, when Complex B was used as the emissive layer, maximum current efficiency of 34.0 cd/A and external quantum efficiency of 10.3% have been achieved. When 1,3,5-tris(N-phenylbenzimidazol-2-yl) benzene (TPBI) was used as the block layer, the efficiencies can be further improved to 46.3 cd/A and 13.9%, respectively. These solution processed OLED devices demonstrated quite stable EL efficiencies over a large range of current density, which indicated that triplet–triplet annihilation in electrophosphorescence could be effectively suppressed by incorporation of the polyphenylphenyl dendron structure into iridium complexes.     

Emission color tuning of copolymers containing polyfluorene,benzothiadiazole, porphyrin derivatives

Copolymer containing benzothiadiazole (BT) and porphyrin (POR) derivatives as dopants (<0.3 mol%) was synthesized to polyfluorene (PF) backbone using Suzuki coupling reaction. The synthesized polymer was thermally stable and soluble in general organic solvents. UV–vis spectra of the polymer showed the similar behaviors in solution and on film. However, PL spectra was similar to PF in solution, but its peak increased around 520 and 612 nm as BT and POR, the dopants, went up in casting film. The more POR increased, the more effective Forster energy transfer was observed by POR than BT in PF. The device was made in ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer/BaF₂/Ba/Al structure. For PFB02P05 polymer, the luminous efficiency was 0.66 cd/A, the power efficiency 0.29 lm/W and the maximum brightness 936 cd/m². CIE coordinate (0.36, 0.34) was closer to pure white. For PFB15P20, the luminous efficiency was 1.40 cd/A, the power efficiency 0.32 lm/W, the maximum brightness 5997 cd/m². PFB15P20 demonstrated the best performance as green emission.     

Carbazole-modified blue light-emitting copolymers with the backbones integrated by diphenyloxadiazole,fluorene, and triphenylamine

Two new blue light-emitting polymers, poly{[2,5-bis(4-phenylene)-1,3,4-oxadiazole]-[9,9-dihexylfluorene-2,7-diyl]-[N-(4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)phenyl)-N,N-bis(p-phenylene)aniline]} (POFPA) and poly{[2,5-bis(4-phenylene)-1,3,4-oxadiazole]-[9,9-dihexylfluorene-2,7-diyl]-[4-(3,6-(di-9H-carbazol-9-yl)-9H-carbazol-9-yl)-N,N-bis(p-phenylene)-aniline]} (POFCPA), were synthesized by Suzuki coupling reactions. By GPC analysis against a linear polystyrene standard POFPA and POFCPA were found to have M_n of 1.68 × 10⁴ and 3.70 × 10³, respectively. In contrast to POFPA, the main absorption peak of POFCPA in dilute toluene solution was blue-shifted by Δλ = 26 nm owing to its backbone of relatively shorter π-conjugation length and more carbazole units in side chain. The absolute fluorescence quantum yield (Φ_f) of POFCPA in dilute toluene solution was determined as 73%, much higher than that of POFPA (Φ_f ≈ 58.9%) measured under the same conditions. An electroluminescence device based on POFCPA displays a stable blue emission having color coordinates of (0.15, 0.20), a maximum brightness of 4762 cd/m², and a maximum current efficiency of 1.79 cd/A. By using this polymer as the host material doped with 1 wt.% 4,4′-bis[2-(4-(N,N-diphenylamino)phenyl)vinyl]biphenyl, the achieved highest brightness, maximum current efficiency and maximum power efficiency are 13,613 cd/m², 3.38 cd/A, and1.84 lm/W, respectively.     

Polysulfone — sulfonated poly(ether ether) ketone blend membranes: systematic synthesis and characterisation

The effect of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) in membrane formation and separation properties has been investigated in polysulfone(PSU)/SPEEK/N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP) systems. Charged ultrafiltration/nanofiltration membranes were obtained reliably in the range of 0.5–5 wt.% SPEEK in the polymer blend. All PSU/SPEEK blend membranes had substantially higher water flux, salt rejection, porosity and greatly reduced particle adhesion compared to the PSU base membrane. Further, all of these properties varied systematically with variation of SPEEK content. Reproducibility and stability of the membrane properties was excellent. Pore sizes determined from dextran retention data and AFM measurements showed reasonable agreement. Membranes with 5 wt.% SPEEK demonstrated excellent overall properties. Such membranes had very high permeability, 22.6±1.6×10⁻¹¹ m³ s⁻¹ N⁻¹, 0.999 fractional rejection of 4000 Da dextran, 0.65 rejection of 0.001 M NaCl, and only 0.75 mN m⁻¹ adhesion of a 4 μm silica particle. Such membranes are very promising for scale-up of production and testing on real process streams.     

Pure white‐light‐emitting diodes from phosphorescent single polymer systems

New white polymeric light‐emitting diodes from phosphorescent single polymer systems have been developed using a blue‐light‐emitting fluorene monomer copolymerized with a red‐light‐emitting phosphorescent dye, and end‐capped with a green‐light‐emission dye. All of the copolymers have good thermal stability with 5% weight loss temperatures at 380–413 °C and glass transition temperatures at 75–137 °C. We obtained white‐light‐emission devices by adjusting the molar ratio of the comonomers with a structure of indium tin oxide/poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrene sulfonic acid)/polyvinylcarbazole (PVK)/emission layer/Ca/Ag. The highest brightness in such a device configuration is 300 cd/m² at a current density of 2900 A/m² with high white color quality (Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.33, 0.34)). © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 464–472, 2008     

Nanoplates and nanostars of β-PbO formed at the air/water interface

Nanoparticles with different shapes were prepared at the air/water interface via hydrolysis of Pb²⁺ ions under Langmuir films of poly(N-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) at 30–50 °C. It was found that round or irregular nanoparticles with the size of several to several tens of nanometers were formed when the PbCl₂ aqueous solution with the concentration of 1 × 10^?3 mol L^?1 was used as subphase, while single-crystalline quasi-hexagonal nanoplates, nanostars and dendrites with the size of several hundreds of nanometers were obtained when the subphase concentration was 1 × 10^?4 mol L^?1. Analysis on the selective-area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns revealed that the formed nanoparticles are β-PbO. The formation of the nanostructures should be attributed to the formation and dehydration of lead hydroxide, diffuse-limited growth and aggregation of nanoparticles at the air/water interface.     

Solution‐processed high‐performance orange phosphorescent and white PLEDs with a high color‐rendering index from an unprecedented π‐stacked and π‐conjugated host material

A blue fluorescent polymer based on poly(vinyl carbazole) (PVK) and terfluorene, combined to make a chemical hybrid at the carbazole unit (PVK‐TF), is fully characterized in this study. PVK‐TF shows useful emission features, such as peaks at 400, 420, 437, 460, and 496 nm, depending on the processing conditions. It possesses a relatively high triplet energy level (2.23 eV), electrochemical stability, good film‐forming ability, and morphological stability. Based on this blue fluorescent material, highly efficient orange phosphorescent polymer light‐emitting diodes (PLEDs) were fabricated with a maximum efficiency of 21.99 cd A^?1, and a maximum luminance of 19552.3 cd m^?2. Single‐layer hybrid white PLEDs were developed, with a high color rendering index of 81.9 that emitted across the whole visible spectrum from 380 to 780 nm, corresponding to the Commission International de L'Eclairage coordinates x, y values of around (0.38, 0.40) and CCT = 3774, with a maximum current efficiency of 10.69 cd A^?1, and a maximum brightness of 15723.3 cd m^?2. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. Part B: Polym. Phys. 2014 , 52, 587–595     

A yellow-emitting iridium complex for use in phosphorescent multiple-emissive-layer white organic light-emitting diodes with high color quality and efficiency

A cyclometalated iridium(III) complex containing 2-(9,9-diethylfluoren-2-yl)pyridine [Ir(Flpy)₃] was prepared and used in the fabrication of both yellow and white organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). A hole-blocking material has been used as a hole barrier layer in-between different emission layers, helping the formation of the hole limitation region. With the proper position of a hole barrier layer and the construction of a four-emission-layer structure involving the use of [Ir(Flpy)₃], the resulting WOLED shows sound device performance as well as very stable color even at high luminances. Such WOLEDs have been demonstrated to reveal superior white light color stability/efficiency trade-off optimization. The Commission Internationale de L’Eclairage (CIE) coordinate differences Δx and Δy are confined to ±0.015 when the luminance increases from 13 to 14806 cd/m². The color rendering index (CRI) of the device is also very good, which varies only from 86 to 87 by changing from the normal direction to 80° off-normal at 12 V. The peak electrophosphorescence efficiency can reach as high as 24.6 cd/A at 168 cd/m²and it can still be kept at 17.2 cd/A at 10834 cd/m². Such outstanding performance renders this all-phosphor WOLED very attractive as a white light source for illumination applications, which typically demand high efficiency, high CRI, and stable color in high brightness work conditions.     

Synthesis and characterization of thiophene and fluorene based donor–acceptor conjugated polymer containing 1,3,4-oxadiazole units for light-emitting diodes

A new donor–acceptor (D–A) conjugated polymer (PDTOF) containing 3,4-didodecyloxythiophene, fluorene and 1,3,4-oxadiazole units is synthesized by using Wittig reaction methodology. The synthesized polymer is characterized by ¹H NMR, FTIR, GPC, and elemental analysis. The optical energy band gap of the polymer is found to be 2.42 eV as calculated from the onset absorption edge. The electrochemical studies of PDTOF reveal that, the HOMO and LUMO energy levels of the polymer are ?5.45 eV and ?3.58 eV, respectively. The polymer is thermally stable up to 320 °C. Polymer light-emitting diode devices are fabricated with a configuration of ITO/PEDOT: PSS/PDTOF/Al using PDTOF as the emissive layer. The electroluminescence (EL) spectrum of the device showed green emission with CIE coordinate values (0.34, 0.47). By current density–voltage characteristics, threshold voltage of the PLED device is found to be 6.5 V.     

A novel process to prepare porous membranes comprising SnO2 nanoparticles and P(MMA-AN) as polymer electrolyte

We have successfully developed a new process to prepare porous poly(methyl methacrylate-co-acrylonitrile) (P(MMA-AN)) copolymer based gel electrolyte. The porous structure in the polymer matrix is achieved by adding SnO₂ nanoparticles which are mostly used as gas sensor materials. The quasi-aromatic solvent, NMP, has an electron-repulsion effect with the space charge layer on the surface of SnO₂ nanoparticles and forms a special gas–liquid phase interface. Once the cast polymer solution is stored at an elevated temperature to evaporate the solvent, gas–liquid phase separation happens and spherical pores are obtained. The ionic conductivity at room temperature of the prepared gel polymer electrolyte based on the porous membrane is as high as 1.54 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ with the electrochemical stability up to 5.10 V (vs. Li/Li⁺). This method presents another promising way to prepare porous polymer electrolyte for practical use.     

High performance direct methanol fuel cells based on acid–base blend membranes containing benzotriazole

Novel acid–base blend membranes consisting of acidic sulfophenylated poly(ether ether ketone ketone) (Ph-SPEEKK) and various amounts of basic polysulfone tethered with 5-amino-benzotriazole (PSf-BTraz) have been prepared and characterized. The blend membranes show higher proton conductivity and lower liquid uptake and dimensional swelling compared to plain Ph-SPEEKK and sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) membranes. The Ph-SPEEKK/PSf-BTraz blend membranes with optimized basic polymer contents exhibit lower methanol crossover and higher performance with improved stability in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) at various methanol concentrations (1–10 M) than plain Ph-SPEEK and Nafion-115 membranes.     

Stereospecific polymerization of propylene with group 4 ansa-fluorenylamidodimethyl complexes

Group 4 [η¹:η³-tert-butyl(dimethylfluorenylsilyl)amido]dimethyl complexes [t-BuNSiMe₂Flu]MMe₂ (M = Ti, 1; Zr, 2; Hf, 3) were synthesized in a one-pot synthesis starting from the ligand, MeLi and MCl₄ (M = Ti, Zr, Hf), respectively. The structures of these complexes were determined by X-ray crystallography and the results obtained revealed that the fluorenyl ligand coordinates to center metal in a η³-manner irrespective of center metal employed. Propylene polymerization was conducted at 0 or 20 °C in toluene by 1–3 combined with dried methylaluminoxane (MAO), which was prepared from the toluene solutions of MAO by removing free trialkylaluminiums, and HNMe₂PhB(C₆F₅)₄ in the presence of triisobutylaluminium. The 1–dried MAO system gave the polymer with syndiotactic triad (rr) of 63% at 0 °C, whereas 2 and 3 did not give any polymer in the same conditions. The 2–dried MAO system gave the polymer with the highest syndiotacticity (rr = 97%) at 20 °C, although the activity was low. The 3–dried MAO system did not give any polymer even at 20 °C. When HNMe₂PhB(C₆F₅)₄ was used in place of dried MAO at 20 °C, 1 gave almost atactic polymer, while 2 and 3 gave highly syndiotactic one (rr > 90%). These results indicate that the catalytic performance strongly depended on the center metal of the ansa-fluorenylamidodimethyl complexes as well as cocatalysts employed.     

(Surfactant + polymer) interaction parameter studied by (liquid + liquid) equilibrium data of quaternary aqueous solution containing surfactant,polymer, and salt

(Liquid + liquid) equilibrium (LLE) data of quaternary aqueous system containing polyoxyethylene (20) cetyl ether (with abbreviation name Brij 58, non-ionic surfactant), diammonium hydrogen phosphate, and poly ethylene glycol (PEG) with three molar masses {M_W = (1000, 6000, and 35,000) g · mol^?1} have been determined experimentally at T = 313.15 K.Furthermore, the Flory–Huggins theory with two electrostatic terms (Debye–Hückel and Pitzer–Debye–Hückel equations) have been used to calculate the phase behavior of the quaternary systems and (surfactant + polymer) interaction parameter as well as interaction parameters between other species. Temperature dependency of the parameters of the Flory–Huggins theory has been obtained.Also an effort have been done to show that addition of PEG as well as increasing the temperature can shift the binodal curves of the ternary aqueous system containing surfactant and salt to lower mole fraction of salt. Also the effect of polymer molar mass on the binodal diagram displacement has been discussed.     

Poly(ether amine) and cross-linked poly(propylene oxide) diacrylate thin-film polymer electrolyte for 3D-microbatteries

This paper presents a novel thin-film electrolyte of a 2:1 blend of polyetheramine (glyceryl poly(oxypropylene)) and cross-linked oligomeric poly(propylene oxide) diacrylate with LiTFSI. The polyetheramine acts as a surfactant, and can thereby be applied as a conformal coating on complex surfaces—here demonstrated for porous LiFePO₄ cathodes—making it useful for 3D-microbatteries. The poly(propylene oxide) diacrylate blends with the surfactant and is easily UV cross-linked, thereby ensuring good mechanical stability. Electrolytes, ~ 2 μm thick, were casted onto LiFePO₄ cathodes and cycled against metallic lithium, displaying stable discharge capacities of ~ 8 mAh/g at room temperature and ~ 120 mAh/g at 60 °C. The electrolyte showed conductivities of 3.45 × 10^? 6 and 5.80 × 10^? 5 S cm^? 1 at room temperature and 60 °C, respectively.     

Energy transfer and triplet exciton confinement in polymeric electrophosphorescent devices

Energy transfer and triplet exciton confinement in polymer/phosphorescent dopant systems have been investigated. Various combinations of host‐guest systems have been studied, consisting of two host polymers, poly(vinylcarbazole) (PVK) and poly[9,9‐bis(octyl)‐fluorene‐2,7‐diyl] (PF), blended with five different phosphorescent iridium complexes with different triplet energy levels. These combinations of hosts and dopants provide an ideal situation for studying the movement of triplet excitons between the host polymers and dopants. The excitons either can be confined at the dopant sites or can flow to the host polymers, subject to the relative position of the triplet energy levels of the material. For PF, because of its low triplet energy level, the exciton can flow back from the dopants to PF when the dopant has a higher triplet energy and subsequently quench the device efficiency. In contrast, efficient electrophosphorescence has been observed in doped PVK films because of the high triplet energy level of PVK. Better energy transfer from PVK to the dopants, as well as triplet exciton confinement on the dopants, leads to higher device performance than found in PF devices. Efficiencies as high as 16, 8.0, and 2.6 cd/A for green, yellow, and red emissions, respectively, can be achieved when PVK is selected as the host polymer. The results in this study show that the energy transfer and triplet exciton confinement have a pronounced influence on the device performance. In addition, this study also provides material design and selection rules for the efficient phosphorescent polymer light‐emitting diodes. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 2681–2690, 2003     

New electropolymerized poly(thienyl-silole)s for all-polymer solar cells: Incorporation of silole results in remarkable enhancement of photoefficiency compared to polybithiophene

New electropolymerized donor–acceptor materials were prepared containing thiophenes and siloles in the main chain. The introduction of the silole moiety gave rise to more than 5 times improvement in the photoefficiency of the polymer material as compared to the parent polymer, polybithiophene (PBT). The energy conversion efficiency of the poly(thienyl-silole) material measured in electrolytic arrangement under 90 mW cm⁻² monochromatic 405 nm light was estimated to be ca. 0.16% with a fill factor of 60%. The efficiency is expected to further increase upon optimization of the thickness and composition of the active layer.     

Synthesis and electropolymerization of 1,2-bis(thiophen-3-ylmethoxy)benzene and its electrochromic properties and electrochromic device application

A new thiophene-based monomer; 1,2-bis(thiophen-3-ylmethoxy)benzene (BTMB) has been synthesized and chemical structure of the monomer was characterized. Polymerization of BTMB and characterization of the resulting polymer P(BTMB) were performed. Spectroelectrochemical analysis of the P(BTMB) reflected electronic transitions at 400 nm, 520 nm and ～720 nm, corresponding to π–π* transition, polaron and bipolaron band formation respectively. Switching ability was evaluated by a kinetic study via measuring the transmittance (%T) at the maximum contrast. Dual type all polymer electrochromic device (ECD) based on P(BTMB) and poly(ethylene dioxythiophene) (PEDOT) was constructed. Spectroelectrochemistry and switching ability of the devices were investigated by UV–vis spectroscopy.     

Surface plasmon resonance research on photoinduced switch properties of liquid crystalline azobenzene polymer Langmuir–Blodgett films

We report a novel phenomenon of photoisomerization-induced switch properties in liquid crystalline azo-benzene polymer poly{2-hydroetheyl methacrylate}-co-{6-[4-(S-2-methyl-1-butyloxycarbonylphenylazo) phenoxy]hexyl methacrylate} Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) monolayers. These monolayers were deposited on gold film and irradiated with UV (360 nm) and blue (450 nm) light. The switch properties were investigated by the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique. A method called photoinduced patterning was used for the fabrication of a model molecular device. It has been found that the photoinduced process of writing and erasing in such devices can be repeated for tens of cycles.     

Hemilability of 2-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)pyridine and 2-(oxazol-2-yl)pyridine ligands: Imidazole and oxazole ring Lewis basicity,Ni(II)/Pd(II) complex structures and spectra

Fourteen new organic molecules A1–A4, B1–B5, C1–C4 and D and a series of transition metal(II) complexes (Ni1–Ni9 and Pd1–Pd2b) were synthesized and studied in order to characterize the hemilability of 2-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)pyridine and 2-(oxazol-2-yl)pyridine ligands (A1–A4 = 2-R²-6-(4,5-diphenyl-1R¹-imidazol-2-yl)pyridines, R¹ = H or CH₃, R² = H or CH₃; B1–B5 = 1-R²-2-(pyridin-2-yl)-1R¹-phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazoles/oxazoles, R¹ = H or CH₃, R² = H or CH₃; C1–C4 = 2-(6-R²-pyridin-2-yl)-1H-imidazo/oxazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthrolines, R² = H or CH₃; D = 2-mesityl-1H-imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline). They were also used to study the substituent effects on the donor strengths as well as the coordination chemistries of the imidazole/oxazole fragments of the hemilabile ligands.All the observed protonation–deprotonation processes found within pH 1–14 media pertain to the imidazole or oxazole rings rather than the pyridyl Lewis bases. The donor characteristics of the imidazole/oxazole ring can be estimated by spectroscopic methods regardless of the presence of other strong N donor fragments. The oxazoles possessed notably lower donor strengths than the imidazoles. The electron-withdrawing influence and capacity to hinder the azole base donor strength of 4,5-azole substituents were found to be in the order phenanthrenyl (B series) > 4,5-diphenyl (A series) > phenanthrolinyl (C series). An X-ray structure of Ni5b gave evidence for solvent induced ligand reconstitution while the structure of Pd2b provided evidence for solvent induced metal–ligand bond disconnection.Interestingly, alkylation of 1H-imidazoles did not necessarily produce the anticipated push of electron density to the donor nitrogen. Furthermore, substituents on the 4,5-carbons of the azole ring were more important for tuning donor strength of the azole base. DFT calculations were employed to investigate the observed trends. It is believed that the information provided on substituent effects and trends in this family of ligands will be useful in the rational design and synthesis of desired azole-containing chelate ligands, tuning of donor properties and application of this family of ligands in inorganic architectural designs, template-directed coordination polymer preparations, mixed-ligand inorganic self-assemblies, etc.     

Influence of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene on the miscibility of polypropylene/polyamide-6 blends using ATR-FTIR mapping

In this work we describe an approach to study the influence of the compatibilizer, maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MAH), on the miscibility of polypropylene/polyamide-6 blends (PP/PA6) using attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopic mapping. In measurement, the image area for each blend was 100 μm × 100 μm. Different amounts of PP-g-MAH were introduced into the polymer blends, and the miscibility was characterized by the spatial distribution of PA6 in the image based on the corrected absorbance at 1640 cm^?1. It was found that small quantities of the compatibilizer could significantly improve the miscibility of the two immiscible polymers. Furthermore, our results proved that blend with 6 parts of PP-g-MAH by weight exhibited an optimal miscibility behavior. This paper demonstrates that ATR-FTIR mapping is a direct method to visualize the miscibility of polymer blends.