Controllable molecular configuration for significant improvement of blue OLEDs based on novel twisted anthracene derivatives

Two novel twisted anthracene derivatives, 2-(4-(10-(phenanthren-9-yflanthracen-9-yl)phenyl)-1-phenyl-1H-phenanthro[9,10-d]-imidazole (p-PABPI) and 2-(3-(10-(phenan-thren-9-yl)anthracen-9-yl)phenyl)-1-phenyl-1H-phenanthro-[9,10-d]imidazole (m-PABPI), have been synthesized. Their photophysical and photochemical properties are also investigated systemically. The non-doped fluorescent organic light-emitting diodes are fabricated by using anthracene derivatives as the emitters. The maximum current efficiencies are achieved to be 3.98 and 132 cd A(-1) and the maximum power efficiencies are 2.80 and 1.14 Im W-1, respectively. The external quantum efficiency maximum (EQEmax) is 3.61% and 1.33% for p-PABPI and m-PABPI. Intriguingly, the efficiencies of p-PABPI are almost three times larger than that of m-PABPI with only the different molecular configuration. The results revealed a new rule of molecular design based on anthracene derivatives for obtaining high performance blue emission materials. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.