All-solution processed composite hole transport layer for quantum dot light emitting diode

In the present work, poly-TPD and TCTA composite hole transport layer (HTL) was employed in solution processed CdSe/ZnS quantum dot light emitting diodes (QLEDs). As the doping level of TCTA can determine the carriers transport efficiency of HTL, the proper mixing ratio of TCTA and poly-TPD should be found to optimize the performance of composite HTL for QLEDs. The doping of poly-TPD by low TCTA content can make its HOMO level lower and then reduce the energy barrier height from HTL to quantum dots (QDs), whereas the doping of poly-TPD by the concentrated TCTA results in the degraded performance of QLEDs due to its decreased hole transport mobility. By using the optimized composition with poly-TPD: TCTA (3:1) as the hole transport layer, the luminescence of the device exhibits about double enhancement compared with that of poly-TPD based device. The improvement of luminescence is mainly attributed to the lower energy barrier of hole injection. The Forster resonant energy transfer (FRET) mechanism in the devices was investigated through theoretical and experimental analysis and the results indicate that the TCTA doping makes no difference on FRET. Therefore, the charge injection mechanism dominates the improved performance of the devices. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.