This paper delves into the development of a group of twisted donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) derivatives incorporating bicarbazole as electron donor and benzophenone as electron acceptor for potential use as blue emitters in OLEDs. The derivatives were synthesized in a reaction of 4,4'-difluorobenzophenone with various 9-alkyl-9'H-3,3'-bicarbazoles. The materials, namely, DB14, DB23, and DB29, were designed with different alkyl side chains to enhance their solubility and film-forming properties of layers formed using the spin-coating from solution method. The new materials demonstrate high thermal stabilities with decomposition temperatures >383 °C, glass transition temperatures in the range of 95-145 °C, high blue photoluminescence quantum yields (>52%), and short decay times, which range in nanoseconds. Due to their characteristics, the derivatives were used as blue emitters in OLED devices. Some of the OLEDs incorporating the DB23 emitter demonstrated a high external quantum efficiency (EQEmax) of 5.3%, which is very similar to the theoretical limit of the first-generation devices.
Keywords: blue emission; blue organic light-emitting diode (OLED); donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) derivatives; high efficiency; thermal analysis.