Rigidly planar charge-transfer molecules may unlock long-lasting TADF OLED emission

Researchers from Durham University have used a unique molecule to create TADF emitters with better triplet harvesting, and thus extended lifetime. The fused indolocarbazole-phthalimide molecules offer rigidly planar charge-transfer and can maintain their stability and efficiency over time, even in high-stress conditions.

The researchers say that the new molecules break all our current ideas about excited states in OLED emitters and the researchers developed a new model linking molecular bonding patterns leading to the breaking of molecular pi-conjugation in the excited state.