Highly stable and efficient copper(I) sensitizer for narrowband red organic light-emitting diodes with an operational lifetime (LT95) of up to 3689 h at 1000 cd m−2
Copper-based organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are low-cost alternatives to precious metal-based OLEDs, but currently no such OLEDs can meet the practical requirements for high colour purity, device efficiency, and operational stability. Carbene-Cu(I)-amide emitters reported here exhibited thermally activated delayed fluorescent emission with quantum efficiencies up to 0.90 and radiative decay rates of 2.7 × 10<sup>6</sup> s<sup>-1</sup>. These enable blue to near-infrared Cu(I)-OLEDs with high brightness (265,000 cd m<sup>-2</sup>) and extended LT<sub>95</sub> lifetime (3582 hours at 1000 cd m<sup>-2</sup>). Deuteriation and π-extension of carbazole significantly enhance OLED stability. Cu(I)-sensitized fluorescence OLEDs showed efficient narrowband electroluminescence (λ<sub>max</sub> 612-614 nm; full-width half maximum of 33-38 nm; maximum external quantum efficiencies reach 21.9%) and prolonged LT<sub>95</sub> lifetime (up to 3689 h at 1000 cd m<sup>-2</sup>). This work highlights earth-abundant metal-based sensitized-OLEDs that exhibit high colour purity and long device lifetime comparable to the best non-iridium metal-based OLEDs.
Authors
- Kam‐Hung Low (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3292-8893)
- Rui Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2545-8355)
- Shuo Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0075-2926)
- Gang Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3658-2076)
- Chi‐Ming Che (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2554-7219)
- Lian Duan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2750-0972)
- Dongdong Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8433-6200)
Institutions
- Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HK)
- HKUST Shenzhen Research Institute (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Synthetic Chemistry (CN)
- Institut de Recherche et d’Innovation (FR)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-08-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62867-8
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.46
Funders
- University of Hong Kong
- Innovation and Technology Fund
- CAS-Croucher Funding Scheme for Joint Laboratories
- Southern University of Science and Technology
- Hong Kong Government