Data-Driven and Quantum-Chemical Insights into Emergence of Multiresonance Effect in Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters
Abstract Multiresonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) emitters enable narrow-bandwidth emission and high efficiency in organic light-emitting diodes; however, the fundamental origin of the multiresonance effect remains incompletely understood. Herein, a fine-tuned Uni-Mol model trained on reported MR-TADF emitters identifies BN-embedded aromatic units as the primary structural motif governing small singlet–triplet energy gaps. Wave function-based quantum chemical calculations subsequently validate this prediction and provide a mechanistic understanding of the underlying electronic structure. While the minimal BN-containing unit dictates the singlet–triplet splitting, π-extension primarily controls vibronic stabilization and emission bandwidth. The multiresonance effect is shown to arise from a cooperative interplay of phase-separated orbital topology, suppressed exchange interactions and enhanced excited-state correlation, further reinforced by heteroatom-induced electronic polarization that yields nearly identical S1 and T1 charge distributions. Combined with the data-driven identification of boron positioning as the dominant modulator of singlet–triplet splitting and nitrogen−π coupling as a key determinant of emission color, this work provides actionable design principles for next-generation MR-TADF emitters with controlled spectral purity and near-zero singlet–triplet gaps.
Authors
- Xiankai Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8580-7246)
- Alex K.‐Y. Jen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9219-7749)
- Weixiong Guo
- Rajat Walia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2946-1225)
- Ziqiang Cao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1077-9033)
- Ke Du
- Jiaqi Li
Institutions
- City University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Soochow University (TW)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
- Published
- 2026-09-19
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.6c03987
- Primary Topic
- Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00