Using a tailored high triplet energy hole transport layer (HTL) is a suitable way to improve the efficiency and extend the lifetime of organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs), which can use all molecular excitons of singlets and triplets. In this study, dibenzofuran (DBF)-end-capped and spirobifluorene (SBF) core-based HTLs referred as TDBFSBF1 and TDBFSBF2 were effectively developed. TDBFSBF1 exhibited a high glass transition temperature of 178 °C and triplet energy of 2.5 eV. Moreover, a high external quantum efficiency of 22.0 %, long operational lifetime at 50 % of the initial luminance of 89,000 h, and low driving voltage at 1000 cd m-2 of 2.95 V were achieved in green phosphorescent OLEDs using TDBFSBF1. Further, a high-hole mobility μh value of 1.9×10-3 cm2 V-1 s-1 was recorded in TDBFSBF2. A multiscale simulation successfully reproduced the experimental μh values and indicated that the reorganization energy was the primary factor in determining the mobility differences among these SBF core based HTLs.
Keywords: hole transporter; long lifetime; multiscale simulation; phosphorescence; spirobifluorene derivative.
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