Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) normally exhibit efficient fluorescence in dilute solutions, whereas their emission is significantly quenched in the aggregated state due to the formation of π-aggregates/excimers. The rigid and planar structure of PAHs plays a positive role in terms of fluorescence in solution but a negative one in the aggregated state. To bestow PAHs a luminescent ability in the solid state, we constructed a non-coplanar PAH-substituted ethene. By using the planar PAH fluoranthene as a building block, a highly efficient solid-state emitter with a fluorescence quantum efficiency of unity in the aggregated state was obtained. OLEDs with contain the molecule as an emitter reach a luminance up to 20 520 cd m(-2) and an efficiency of 10 cd A(-1).
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