1,2,4-Triazole-Ligand-based Iridium(III) complex and its use in blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) play a key role in modern flexible displays. Although stable and efficient red- and green-emitting phosphors have been developed, the applications of blue emitters are limited due to their poor chemical and electrochemical stability, and thus, they require further development. Herein, we report the preparation and full characterization of IrTrz, a 3-methyl-5-phenyl-1H-1,2,4-triazole-ligand-based facial-homoleptic iridium complex. Single-crystal X-ray diffractometry results suggested that the complex is a facial isomer with C3 point symmetry. The complex exhibited a blue emission band centered at ∼450 nm in both solution and the film state at ambient temperature; moreover, it showed a very narrow full-width at half maximum value (55 nm) and a moderate photoluminescence quantum yield (33%). The complex showed high thermal stability, with 5%-weight-loss and glass-transition temperatures of 324 and 210 °C, respectively. Consecutive cyclic voltammetry measurements revealed outstanding electrochemical stability of the complex. Therefore, multilayer phosphorescent OLEDs that use IrTrz as the blue emitter were fabricated with two types of host material: (3,3′-di(9H-carbazol-9-yl)-1,1′-biphenyl (mCBP) and 9-(dibenzo[b,d]thiophen-4-yl)-9H-3,9′-bicarbazole (4DBTCz)). In particular, the 4DBTCz-based devices exhibited low turn-on voltages (∼5.0 V) and high external quantum efficiencies (>11%) with a Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage y-coordinate of 0.2. Moreover, the devices demonstrated stable operational lifetimes that exceeded 690 h (for mCBP) and 390 h (for 4DBTCz) at 100 cd/m2. Therefore, we believe that the 1,2,4-triazole-ligand-based Ir(III) complex is a promising blue-phosphorescent emitter material for applications in stable and efficient OLED devices. [Display omitted] •We report a novel Ir(III) complex with outstanding photophysical properties suitable for blue phosphorescence.•OLED devices doped with the complex exhibited distinct blue emissions, low turn-on voltages, and high efficiencies.•The phosphor is highly thermally and electrochemically stable, leading to devices with long operating lifetimes over 690 h.•Insight for strategic molecular-design of blue phosphorescent emitter showing high efficiency and stability.