Onion-like multicolor thermally activated delayed fluorescent carbon quantum dots for efficient electroluminescent light-emitting diodes

Carbon quantum dots are emerging as promising nanomaterials for next-generation displays. The elaborate structural design is crucial for achieving thermally activated delayed fluorescence, particularly for improving external quantum efficiency of electroluminescent light-emitting diodes. Here, we report the synthesis of onion-like multicolor thermally activated delayed fluorescence carbon quantum dots with quantum yields of 42.3–61.0%. Structural, spectroscopic characterization and computational studies reveal that onion-like structures assembled from monomer carbon quantum dots of different sizes account for the decreased singlet-triplet energy gap, thereby achieving efficient multicolor thermally activated delayed fluorescence. The devices exhibit maximum luminances of 3785–7550 cd m −2 and maximum external quantum efficiency of 6.0–9.9%. Importantly, owing to the weak van der Waals interactions and adequate solution processability, flexible devices with a maximum luminance of 2554 cd m −2 are realized. These findings facilitate the development of high-performance carbon quantum dots-based electroluminescent light-emitting diodes that are promising for practical applications. Shi et al. report the synthesis of multicolour thermally activated delayed fluorescent carbon dots with 3D onion-like configuration to stabilise the triplet state and reduce the singlet-triplet energy gap. LEDs with EQE of 6.0–9.9% are achieved, a step further for efficient and stable displays.