Metal-organic frameworks for white light emission: From synthesis to device fabrication

Abstract

Display technology has developed enormously over the years, with white organic light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs) being the most promising materials for this application. However, their low stability under atmospheric conditions and susceptibility to burn-in of imagesare a few of the critical challenges that need to be overcome to ensure their wide use in electronic devices. Several materials including quantum dots and perovskites have been used for WOLED applications but fail to achieve the goals of (i) pure white light emission with a high quantum yield; (ii) high stability in air and under high-temperature conditions; and (iii) electrical conductivity which decreases the energy loss of the charge while transporting. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) hold great promise for WOLED applications due to their structure versatility, tailored porosity, and high thermal and aqueous stability and are, therefore, the focus of our review. In this review, we first summarize how the display technology has evolved over the years, followed by a description of the main indices in which white light-emitting materials are evaluated. We then briefly present the fundamental principles of luminescence and describe different synthetic strategies applied to generate white light-emitting MOFs. In the last part of our review, we introduce two methods in which MOFs have been used to fabricatedownward conversion and electroluminescence devices, highlighting the potential MOFs in real-world applications.