Molecular modification on bisphenanthroimidazole derivative for deep-blue organic electroluminescent material with ambipolar property and high performance

Efficient deep-blue fluorescent emitters are of particular significance in organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs). An ambipolar deep-blue emitter, 4,4′-bis(4-(1-(4-(tert-butyl)phenyl)-1H-phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazol-2-yl)phenyl)-1,1′-binaphthalene (2NBTPI), was designed, synthesized and applied in a high-efficiency deep-blue emitting OLED. By modifying with binaphthyl, 2NBTPI exhibits a high thermal stability, deep blue emission as well as spatially separated HOMO and LUMO orbits. Comparing with its mononaphthyl counterpart 1,4-bis(4-(1-(4-(tert-butyl)phenyl)-1H-phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazol-2-yl)phenyl)naphthalene (NBTPI), 2NBTPI shows more balanced charge transport properties, better color purity (color index: (0.15, 0.09) versus (0.15, 0.11)), higher external quantum efficiency (EQE) (5.95% versus 5.73%) and slower efficiency roll-off (EQE roll-off at 100 mA cm^-2: 13.1% versus 27.6%). To the best of our knowledge, OLED performances of 2NBTPI are comparable to the best reported non-doped deep-blue emitters.