Enhanced Device Performances of Blue‐Emitting PLEDs Coupled with Silver‐Nanoicosahedrons

Silver‐nanoicosahedron particles (AgNIPs) are produced by chemical reduction and photochemical methods and doped into the hole transport layer (HTL) or emissive layer (EML) of blue‐emitting polymer light‐emitting diodes (PLEDs) to improve their luminous efficiency. The optimal distributed‐densities of the AgNIPs are determined from current density–voltage–luminance measurements at different doping concentrations. The AgNIP dopant doses that maximize the average luminous efficiency of the proposed PLED are 6.71 µg cm−2 in EML (achieving 3.48 cd A−1) and 6.88 µg cm−2 in HTL (achieving 3.35 cd A−1). Although the luminous efficiencies of the blue‐emitting PLEDs fabricated by both doping methods are not significantly different, the maximum plasmonic enhancement (around 30‐fold) of the blue‐emitting PLED with AgNIPs in EML is red‐shifted to the green region (≈530 nm in the electroluminescence spectrum), seriously degrading the luminescent monochromaticity of the blue‐emitting PLED. The maximum plasmonic enhancement (around 33‐fold) of blue‐emitting PLED with AgNIPs in HTL occurred at 430 nm, overlapping the localized surface‐plasmon resonance extinctions of the AgNIPs in HTL (425 nm), thus favoring the enhancement of fluorescence emission. Therefore, to enhance the large‐area emission of blue‐emitting PLEDs, the AgNIPs should be doped in the HTL rather than the EML. Chemical reduction and photochemical methods are used to fabricate silver‐nanoicosahedron particles (AgNIPs) with the desired localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) wavelength. Owing to the LSPR effect, directly doping into the hole transport layer or emissive layer with AgNIPs can lead to substantial enhancement in the luminance and efficacy of polymer light‐emitting diodes.