Stepwise Molecular Engineering Toward High‐Performance Deep‐Blue Narrowband OLEDs: Rigidity as the Foundation, Symmetry as the Key

ABSTRACT Developing high‐color‐purity deep‐blue emitters that meet the BT.2020 standard remains a critical challenge in organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs). Herein, a stepwise molecular engineering strategy for simultaneously accelerating reverse intersystem crossing rate ( k RISC ) and narrowing full‐width at half maxima (FWHM) is proposed for deep‐blue materials. By sequentially enhancing molecular rigidity, strengthening resonant strength, and completing molecular symmetry, a deep‐blue emitter (DBNDICz), constructed on modified diboron multiple‐resonance scaffold, is developed with peak of 452 nm, ultra‐narrow FWHM of 15 nm (0.08 eV) and k RISC of 3.0 × 10 5 s − 1 . The dominant υ 0‐0 transition character of DBNDICz produces a Commission Internationale de I’Éclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.144, 0.060). Moreover, the expanded conjugated skeleton facilitates horizontal dipole orientation of 93%, leading to a high maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE max ) of 24.2% in bottom‐emitting OLEDs. Impressively, top‐emitting OLED achieves a record‐setting blue index of 514 cd A − 1 CIEy − 1 with CIE (0.146, 0.036) and EQE max of 45.2%, establishing a benchmark for state‐of‐the‐art deep‐blue devices. Additionally, an operational lifetime (LT 50 ) of 154.2 h is achieved in an anthracene‐based host. These results represent one of the best performances reported for deep‐blue OLEDs with CIEy≤ 0.06, providing a robust design paradigm for high‐performance narrowband deep‐blue TADF emitters.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie
Published
2026-03-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.8770556
Primary Topic
Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Stepwise Molecular Engineering Toward High‐Performance Deep‐Blue Narrowband OLEDs: Rigidity as the Foundation, Symmetry as the Key

Zhizhi Li, Yitong Zeng, Yuan Ren, Mingliang Xie et al.
Angewandte Chemie
Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Research
article

Stepwise Molecular Engineering Toward High‐Performance Deep‐Blue Narrowband OLEDs: Rigidity as the Foundation, Symmetry as the Key

Zhizhi Li, Yitong Zeng, Yuan Ren, Mingliang Xie, S.G. Chen, Guo‐Xi Yang, Juntao Hu, Xiangyi Cheng, Shi‐Jian Su, Zhihai Yang, Mengke Li, Yu Fu, Junji Kido, Yuguang Ma, Xianjie Li
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Developing high‐color‐purity deep‐blue emitters that meet the BT.2020 standard remains a critical challenge in organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs). Herein, a stepwise molecular engineering strategy for simultaneously accelerating reverse intersystem crossing rate ( k RISC ) and narrowing full‐width at half maxima (FWHM) is proposed for deep‐blue materials. By sequentially enhancing molecular rigidity, strengthening resonant strength, and completing molecular symmetry, a deep‐blue emitter (DBNDICz), constructed on modified diboron multiple‐resonance scaffold, is developed with peak of 452 nm, ultra‐narrow FWHM of 15 nm (0.08 eV) and k RISC of 3.0 × 10 5 s − 1 . The dominant υ 0‐0 transition character of DBNDICz produces a Commission Internationale de I’Éclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.144, 0.060). Moreover, the expanded conjugated skeleton facilitates horizontal dipole orientation of 93%, leading to a high maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE max ) of 24.2% in bottom‐emitting OLEDs. Impressively, top‐emitting OLED achieves a record‐setting blue index of 514 cd A − 1 CIEy − 1 with CIE (0.146, 0.036) and EQE max of 45.2%, establishing a benchmark for state‐of‐the‐art deep‐blue devices. Additionally, an operational lifetime (LT 50 ) of 154.2 h is achieved in an anthracene‐based host. These results represent one of the best performances reported for deep‐blue OLEDs with CIEy≤ 0.06, providing a robust design paradigm for high‐performance narrowband deep‐blue TADF emitters.

Angewandte Chemie
Yamagata University (JP), Dongguan University of Technology (CN), South China University of Technology (CN)
Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Research
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.