Adjustable and smart AIEgens for nondoped blue and deep blue organic light-emitting diodes

Abstract

Blue and deep blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have attracted remarkable interest in display and lighting. However, developing highly emissive blue and deep blue molecules remain a great challenge due to the intrinsic wide bandgap and aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect. The luminogens with aggregation-induced emission (AIEgens) feature emit brightly in aggregate states owing to the restriction of intramolecular motion, enable them to be the potential candidate for the fabrication of excellent nondoped OLEDs. In this review, we summarize recent development of nondoped blue and deep blue AIEgens-based OLEDs, including fluorescent AIEgens, delayed fluorescent AIEgens and AIE polymers. Meanwhile, this review mainly discusses the molecular design strategies and photophysical properties of blue and deep blue AIEgens, and electroluminescent properties of nondoped OLEDs with them as emitting layers. Meanwhile, the challenges and prospects of blue and deep blue AIEgens for the fabrication of nondoped OLEDs are also briefly discussed.