Intrinsically stretchable organic light-emitting diodes

Sci Adv. 2021 Feb 24;7(9):eabd9715. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abd9715. Print 2021 Feb.

Abstract

Soft and conformable optoelectronic devices for wearable and implantable electronics require mechanical stretchability. However, very few researches have been done for intrinsically stretchable light-emitting diodes. Here, we present an intrinsically stretchable organic light-emitting diode, whose constituent materials are all highly stretchable. The resulting intrinsically stretchable organic light-emitting diode can emit light when exposed to strains as large as 80%. The turn-on voltage is as low as 8 V, and the maximum luminance, which is a summation of the luminance values from both the anode and cathode sides, is 4400 cd m-2 It can also survive repeated stretching cycles up to 200 times, and small stretching to 50% is shown to substantially enhance its light-emitting efficiency.