It Matters Where the Heavy Atom Is Placed: Optimizing the Spin–Orbital Coupling in Multiresonant TADF (MR‐TADF) Emitters and Its Impact on OLED Performance
Abstract This study explores the impact of the regioisomerism of a heavy chalcogen atom on the photophysical properties of multi‐resonant thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR‐TADF) materials. Two pairs of isomeric MR‐TADF emitters containing different benzothienocarbazole moieties, tDPABT1B/tDPABT2B and tCzBT1B/tCzBT2B, are synthesized. Theoretical calculations indicate that tDPABT2B and tCzBT2B possess higher spin–orbital coupling values (0.27 and 0.60 cm⁻¹) compared to their respective isomers. The photophysical study reveals that tDPABT2B and tCzBT2B have twofold faster reverse intersystem crossing rate constants of 0.5 × 10⁵ and 2.7 × 10⁵ s⁻¹, respectively, than their isomeric counterparts. The sensitizer‐free organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) with tCzBT1B and tCzBT2B exhibit green emissions [CIE coordinates of (0.12, 0.54)] and show high maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQE max ) of 34.9 and 34.3%, respectively. Notably, the device with tCzBT2B demonstrates a reduced efficiency roll‐off (34% decrease at 1000 cd cm⁻ 2 ) compared to that with tCzBT1B (48% decrease at 1000 cd cm⁻ 2 ), highlighting the distinct benefits and importance of the regiochemistry of the heavy atom in contributing to an enhancing device performance.
Authors
- David B. Cordes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5366-9168)
- Kai Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9860-2282)
- Aidan P. McKay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8578-7054)
- Eli Zysman‐Colman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7183-6022)
- Feng Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8470-4093)
- Xiaohong Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6732-2499)
- Dongyang Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1871-1059)
- Hui Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8478-9990)
Institutions
- University of St Andrews (GB)
- Soochow University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Published
- 2025-04-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202506189
- Citations
- 15
- Primary Topic
- Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 10.96
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- Government of Jiangsu Province
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province
- Higher Education Discipline Innovation Project
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Science and Technology Program of Suzhou