Cyanopyrimidine–Carbazole Hybrid Host Materials for High-Efficiency and Low-Efficiency Roll-Off TADF OLEDs

Two isomeric host materials (Sy and Asy) comprising carbazole (donor) and CN-substituted pyrimidine (acceptor) were synthesized, characterized, and utilized as host materials for green and blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Both molecules have high triplet energy and small energy difference between singlet and triplet states, leading to feasible TADF. The different linking topologies of carbazole and CN groups on the pyrimidine core provide distinct photophysical properties and molecular packing manners, which further influence the efficiency as they served as hosts in TADF OLEDs. As compared to Asy-based cases, the Sy-hosted TADF OLED device gave higher maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQE) of 24.0% (vs 22.5%) for green (4CzIPN as a dopant) and 20.4% (vs 15.0%) for blue (2CzTPN as a dopant) and low efficiency roll-off. The high horizontal dipole ratio (Θ ≈ 88%) for both emitters dispersed in Sy and Asy hosts accounts for the high device efficiency. A clear molecular structure-physical property-device performance relationship has been established to highlight the importance of symmetrical structure in TADF host material design.