Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence in Polymer–Small-Molecule Exciplex Blends for Solution-Processed Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

The photophysics of an exciplex state formed between a small molecule and a polymer is investigated in this work. The results obtained with this blend show the strong potential of polymer-small-molecule blends for triplet harvesting in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) via thermally activated delayed fluorescence. The exciplex formed between poly( N-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) and 2,4,6-tris[3-(diphenylphosphinyl)phenyl]-1,3,5-triazine (PO-T2T) shows yellow-green emission and is applied in solution-processed OLEDs. The excellent film-forming properties in this blend allow easy spin coating and potential use in other solution-processing techniques, such as slot die coating. In this work, we critically address the reverse intersystem crossing mechanism in the presented exciplex system, including the role of local triplet states. Moreover, we bring a clear physical meaning to the decay components of the exciplex emission, including the decay occurring in a power-law fashion that is often ignored in the literature.