Table 1. Photophysical properties of DCzTrz, TCzTrz, TmCzTrz, and DCzmCzTrz.
UV–vis absorption edge
[nm]
Singlet energya)
[eV]
Triplet energyb)
[eV]
PLQY solutionc) PLQY filmd)
Delayed fluorescence lifetime
[µs]
ΔEST
[eV]
[%]
[%]
DCzTrz[10]
TCzTrz
411
414
447
427
3.09
2.96
2.86
2.93
2.86
2.80
2.79
2.73
0.23
0.16
0.07
0.20
43 (17)
100 (47)
99 (39)
84 (52)
–
31.0
13.5
13.3
9.7
100 (81)
100 (86)
98 (89)
TmCzTrz
DCzmCzTrz
a) Singlet energy was calculated from the onset wavelength of fluorescent emission; b)Triplet energy was calculated from the onset wavelength of phosphorescent emission;
c)PLQY measurement was performed in toluene solution after 10 min of nitrogen bubbling; d)PLQY measurement was performed using 30% TADF emitting material doped
DPEPO film. Values in parentheses: before nitrogen bubbling.
photophysical parameters. In the case of TCzTrz and TmC-
zTrz, the HOMO was uniformly distributed over all donor
units because the same donor unit was substituted. How-
ever, the HOMO of DCzmCzTrz was mostly localized on the
3,6-dimethylcarbazole by relatively strong electron richness of
3,6-dimethylcarbazole compared to carbazole. Nonuniform
HOMO distribution was observed in the DCzmCzTrz, while
uniform HOMO distribution was observed in the TCzTrz and
TmCzTrz. The LUMO of TCzTrz, TmCzTrz, and DCzmCzTrz
was similarly dispersed over the diphenyltriazine moiety. The
HOMO and LUMO were overlapped in the phenyl linker,
which connects the donor and acceptor moieties.
TCzTrz, TmCzTrz, and DCzmCzTrz. PL quantum yields of the
three emitting materials are listed in Table 1 in addition to PL
quantum yield of DCzTrz.
Basic photophysical parameters were collected from UV–vis
and PL measurements, and are summarized in Table 1. UV–
vis absorption, room temperature PL and low temperature PL
data are presented in Figure S1 in the Supporting Informa-
tion. Comparing DCzTrz and TCzTrz, additional donor unit
lowered the singlet and triplet energy of the TADF emitter by
strengthened donating power and extended conjugation struc-
ture. Comparing TCzTrz, TmCzTrz, and DCzmCzTrz, rela-
tively strong electron donating character of 3,6-dimethylcarba-
zole to carbazole lowered the singlet energy of TmCzTrz and
DCzmCzTrz. The relatively low singlet energy of TmCzTrz to
that of DCzmCzTrz is due to strong electron donating char-
acter by three 3,6-dimethylcarbazole units of TmCzTrz com-
pared to one 3,6-dimethylcarbazole unit of DCzmCzTrz. ΔEST
of DCzTrz, TCzTrz, TmCzTrz, and DCzmCzTrz were 0.23,
0.16, 0.07, and 0.20 eV, respectively. From the ΔEST of DCzTrz
and TCzTrz, it can be suggested that the additional donor
unit reduces the ΔEST and increases the PL quantum yield by
improved reverse intersystem crossing of the TADF emitters.
In the case of TCzTrz and TmCzTrz, the ΔEST was small in
the TmCzTrz because the donor strength of the donors was
different.
Transient PL measurement of TCzTrz, TmCzTrz, and DCzm-
CzTrz was carried out from 100 K to room temperature to mon-
itor delayed fluorescence behavior. Transient PL decay of the
three TADF emitters is described in Figure 2. The delayed fluo-
rescence component of the three TADF emitters was intensified
at high temperature, which proposed that the delayed emission
of the three emitters is activated by thermal energy. Excited
state lifetimes for delayed emission of TCzTrz, TmCzTrz, and
DCzmCzTrz were 13.5, 13.3, and 9.7 µs, respectively. Com-
pared with the lifetime for TADF emission of other triazine and
carbazole derived TADF emitters, the lifetime of TCzTrz, TmC-
zTrz, and DCzmCzTrz was relatively short because of facile up-
conversion by small ΔEST. The small ΔEST of the three TADF
emitters induced efficient up-conversion, short lifetime for
TADF and high PL quantum yields. Lifetime for the delayed
emission of DCzTrz with two carbazole units was 31.0 µs,[10]
which was much longer than that of TCzTrz with three carba-
zole units. Prompt and delayed emission spectra are shown in
Figure S2 in the Supporting Information. Delayed emission
spectra of TCzTrz, TmCzTrz, and DCzmCzTrz were almost
identical to prompt emission spectra of each TADF emitter,
Photoluminescence (PL) quantum yields of DCzTrz,
TCzTrz, TmCzTrz, and DCzmCzTrz in toluene measured
using an integrating sphere after N2 bubbling were 43%,[10]
100%, 99%, and 84%, respectively. TCzTrz and TmCzTrz
showed almost 100% PL quantum yield under N2 compared
to 47% and 39% in ambient conditions, supporting up-con-
version of triplet excitons for radiative transition by reverse
intersystem crossing process. From the PL quantum yield
data, ΦTADF/ΦT representing relative up-conversion efficiency
of triplet excitons was calculated, where ΦTADF is PL quantum
yield of TADF and ΦT is quantum yield of intersystem crossing
from singlet excited state to triplet excited state.[8] The ΦTADF
values of TCzTrz, TmCzTrz, and DCzmCzTrz were 53, 60, and
32%, respectively. The ΦTADF/ΦT values were 100%, 98%, and
67% for TCzTrz, TmCzTrz, and DCzmCzTrz, which indicates
that triplet excitons of TCzTrz and TmCzTrz are completely
converted into singlet excitons, while only 67% of triplet exci-
tons of DCzmCzTrz are transformed into singlet excitons. This
result is due to small ΔEST of TCzTrz and TmCzTrz, which is
presented in Table 1. Therefore, TCzTrz and TmCzTrz may be
more efficient than DCzmCzTrz to harvest triplet excitons for
singlet emission. PL quantum yield of TADF emitters doped
in bis[2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl]ether oxide (DPEPO) host
was also measured and the triplet to singlet conversion effi-
ciency was high in the TCzTrz and TmCzTrz. ΦTADF values of
TCzTrz, TmCzTrz, and DCzmCzTrz in the DPEPO host were
19%, 14%, and 9%, respectively, and the ΦTADF/ΦT values
100%, 100%, and 82%. From the PL quantum yields of DCzTrz
and TCzTrz, it can be assumed that introduction of three
donor units is better than introduction of two donor units for
up-conversion of triplet excitons. Similarly, it can be presumed
that even HOMO distribution is preferred to uneven HOMO
distribution to reach high PL quantum yield and triplet to
singlet conversion efficiency from the PL quantum yields of
©
5864 wileyonlinelibrary.com
2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Adv. Mater. 2015, 27, 5861–5867