Ligand Engineering Enables Efficient Pure Red Tin-Based Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes

Abstract

With increasing ecological and environmental concerns, tin (Sn)-based perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) are competitive candidates for future displays because of their environmental friendliness, excellent photoelectric properties, and low-cost solution-processed fabrication. Nonetheless, their electroluminescence (EL) performance still lags behind that of lead (Pb)-based PeLEDs due to the fast crystallization rate of Sn-based perovskite films and undesired oxidation from Sn²⁺ to Sn⁴⁺ , leading to poor film morphology and coverage, as well as high density defects. Here, we propose a ligand engineering strategy to construct high-quality phenethylammonium tin iodide (PEA₂ SnI₄ ) perovskite films by using L-glutathione reduced (GSH) as surface ligands toward efficient pure red PEA₂ SnI₄ -based PeLEDs. We show that the hydrogen-bond and coordinate interactions between GSH and PEA₂ SnI₄ effectively reduce the crystallization rate of the perovskites and suppress the oxidation of Sn²⁺ and formation of defects. The improved pure red perovskite films not only show excellent uniformity, density, and coverage but also exhibit enhanced optical properties and stability. Finally, state-of-the-art pure red PeLEDs achieve a record external quantum efficiency of 9.32 % in the field of PEA₂ SnI₄ -based devices. This work demonstrates that ligand engineering represents a feasible route to enhance the EL performance of Sn-based PeLEDs.

Keywords: Electroluminescence; Lead-Free; Light-Emitting Diode; Perovskite; Pure-Red.