A novel fluorene-triphenylamine hybrid that is a highly efficient host material for blue-, green-, and red-light-emitting electrophosphorescent devices

Abstract

TFTPA (tris[4-(9-phenylfluoren-9-yl)phenyl]amine), a novel host material that contains a triphenylamine core and three 9-phenyl-9-fluorenyl peripheries, was effectively synthesized through a Friedel-Crafts-type substitution reaction. Owing to the presence of its sterically bulky 9-phenyl-9-fluorenyl groups, TFTPA exhibits a high glass transition temperature (186 degrees C) and is morphologically and electrochemically stable. In addition, as demonstrated from atomic force microscopy measurements, the aggregation of the triplet iridium dopant is significantly diminished in the TFTPA host, resulting in a highly efficient full-color phosphorescence. The performance of TFTPA-based devices is far superior to those of the corresponding mCP- or CBP-based devices, particularly in blue- and red-emitting electrophosphorescent device systems. The efficiency of the FIrpic-based blue-emitting device reached 12% (26 cd A(-1)) and 18 lm W-1 at a practical brightness of 100 cd m(-2); the Ir(piq)(2)acac-based red-emitting device exhibited an extremely low turn-on voltage (2.6 V) and a threefold enhancement in device efficiency (9.0 lm W-1) relative to those of reference devices based on the CBP host material.