Non-doped OLEDs based on anthracene derivatives with aggregation-induced emission and piezochromism properties

The utilization of anthracene as the core to construct conjugated organic materials typically allows for the display of a range of optical and electroluminescent properties. In this study, two anthracene derivatives containing triphenylamine/diphenylamine and 4,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-triazine moieties 4-(10-(4,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)anthracen-9-yl)-N,N-diphenylaniline (TPAAnTrz) and 10-(4,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)-N,N-diphenylanthracen-9-amine (DPAAnTrz) have been synthesized and investigated systematically. It was found that these two obtained compounds exhibit a noticeable aggregation-induced emission (AIE) effect and reversible piezofluorochromic (PFC) behavior. In comparison to DPAAnTrz, TPAAnTrz demonstrates relatively weak intermolecular interactions and a distorted molecular structure, leading to more prominent piezofluorochromic behavior. TPAAnTrz exhibited weaker intermolecular interactions and a distorted molecular structure compared to DPAAnTrz, leading to more pronounced piezofluorochromic behavior. By utilizing TPAAnTrz and DPAAnTrz as emitters, the non-doped devices can exhibit maximum efficiencies of 13.2 and 10.1 cd/A, respectively, with negligible efficiency roll-off, even at high brightness levels. This demonstrates a significant potential for optoelectronic devices with high performance. [Display omitted] •Two compounds containing anthracene were designed and synthesized.•These two compounds exhibit obvious aggregation-induced emission (AIE) effect.•These two compounds exhibit reversible piezofluorochromic (PFC) behavior.•Nondoped devices with negligible efficiency roll-offwere fabricated.