Understanding "efficiency roll-off" (i.e., the drop in emission efficiency with increasing current) is critical if efficient and bright emissive technologies are to be rationally designed. Emerging light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) can be cost- and energy-efficiently fabricated by ambient-air printing by virtue of the in situ formation of a p-n junction doping structure. However, this in situ doping transformation renders a meaningful efficiency analysis challenging. Herein, a method for separation and quantification of major LEC loss factors, notably the outcoupling efficiency and exciton quenching, is presented. Specifically, the position of the emissive p-n junction in common singlet-exciton emitting LECs is measured to shift markedly with increasing current, and the influence of this shift on the outcoupling efficiency is quantified. It is further verified that the LEC-characteristic high electrochemical-doping concentration renders singlet-polaron quenching (SPQ) significant already at low drive current density, but also that SPQ increases super-linearly with increasing current, because of increasing polaron density in the p-n junction region. This results in that SPQ dominates singlet-singlet quenching for relevant current densities, and significantly contributes to the efficiency roll-off. This method for deciphering the LEC efficiency roll-off can contribute to a rational realization of all-printed LEC devices that are efficient at highluminance.

Perovskite quantum dots (PeQDs) endowed with capping ligands exhibit impressive optoelectronic properties and enable for cost-efficient solution processing and exciting application opportunities. We synthesize and characterize three different PeQDs with the same cubic CsPbBr3 core, but which are distinguished by the ligand composition and density. PeQD-1 features a binary didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB) and octanoic acid capping ligand system, with a high surface density of 1.53 nm−2, whereas PeQD-2 and PeQD-3 are coated by solely DDAB at a gradually lower surface density. We show that PeQD-1 endowed with highest ligand density features the highest dispersibility in toluene of 150 g/L, the highest photoluminescence quantum yield of 95% in dilute solution and 59% in a neat film, and the largest core-to-core spacing in neat thin films. We further establish that ions are released from the core of PeQD-1 when it is exposed to an electric field, although it comprises a dense coating of one capping ligand per four surface core atoms. We finally exploit these combined findings to the development of a light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC), where the active layer is composed solely of solution-processed pure PeQDs, without additional electrolytes. In this device, the ion release is utilized as an advantage for the electrochemical doping process and efficient emissive operation of the LEC.

A light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC) comprises mobile ions in its active material, which enable for in situ formation of a p–n junction by electrochemical doping. The position of this emissive p–n junction in the interelectrode gap is important, because it determines whether the emission is affected by constructive or destructive interference. An appealing LEC feature is that the entire device can be fabricated by low-cost solution-based printing and coating. Here, we show, somewhat unexpectedly, that the replacement of conventional vacuum-deposited indium-tin-oxide (ITO) for the positive anode with solution-processed poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene-sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) can result in an increase in the peak light-emission output by 75%. We demonstrate that this emission increase is due to that the p–n junction shifts from a position of destructive interference in the center of the interelectrode gap with ITO to a position of constructive interference closer to the anode with PEDOT:PSS. We rationalize the anodic p–n junction shift by significant anion transfer into the soft and porous PEDOT:PSS electrode during LEC operation, which is prohibited for the ITO electrode because of its compact and hard nature. Our study, thus, contributes with important design criteria for the attainment of efficient light emission from solution-processed LEC devices.

AbstractLight‐emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) comprising metal‐free molecules that emit by the process of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) can be both sustainable and low cost. However, the blue emission performance of current TADF‐LECs is unfortunately poor, which effectively prohibits their utilization in important applications, such as illumination and full‐color displays. Here, this drawback is addressed through the development of a TADF‐LEC, which delivers blue light emission (peak wavelength = 475 nm) with a high external quantum efficiency of 5.0%, corresponding to a current efficacy of 9.6 cd A‐1. It is notable that this high efficiency is attained at bright luminance of 740 cd m‐2, and that the device turn‐on is very fast. It is demonstrated that this accomplishment is enabled by the blending of a carbazole‐based 9‐(4‐(4,6‐diphenyl‐1,3,5‐triazin‐2‐yl)‐2‐methylphenyl)‐3,6‐dimethyl‐9H‐carbazole guest emitter with a compatible carbazole‐based tris(4‐carbazoyl‐9‐ylphenyl)amine:2,6‐bis(3‐(carbazol‐9‐yl)phenyl)pyridine blend‐host for the attainment of bipolar electrochemical doping, balanced electron/hole transport, and exciplex‐effectuated host‐to‐guest energy transfer.

The emerging field of printed electronics uses large amounts of printing and coating solvents during fabrication, which commonly are deposited and evaporated within spaces available to workers. It is in this context unfortunate that many of the currently employed solvents are non-desirable from health, safety, or environmental perspectives. Here, we address this issue through the development of a tool for the straightforward identification of functional and “green” replacement solvents. In short, the tool organizes a large set of solvents according to their Hansen solubility parameters, ink properties, and sustainability descriptors, and through systematic iteration delivers suggestions for green alternative solvents with similar dissolution capacity as the current non-sustainable solvent. We exemplify the merit of the tool in a case study on a multi-solute ink for high-performance light-emitting electrochemical cells, where a non-desired solvent was successfully replaced by two benign alternatives. The green-solvent selection tool is freely available at: www.opeg-umu.se/green-solvent-tool.

AbstractThe light‐emitting electrochemical cell (LEC) allows for energy‐ and cost‐efficient printing and coating fabrication of its entire device structure, including both electrodes and the single‐layer active material. This attractive fabrication opportunity is enabled by the electrochemical action of mobile ions in the active material. However, a related and up to now overlooked issue is that such solution‐fabricated LECs commonly comprise electrode/active‐material interfaces that are open for transfer of the mobile ions, and it is herein demonstrated that a majority of the mobile anions in a common spray‐coated active material can transfer into a spray‐coated poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene‐sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) positive electrode during LEC operation. Since it is well established that the mobile ion concentration in the active material has a profound influence on the LEC performance, this significant ion transfer is an important factor that should be considered in the design of low‐cost LEC devices that deliver high performance.

AbstractA rational host–guest concept design for the attainment of high efficiency at strong luminance from light‐emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) by suppression of exciton‐polaron quenching [Tang et al., Nature Communications 2017, 8, 1190] has been reported. However, a practical drawback with the presented host–guest LEC devices was that the operational stability is insufficient for many applications. Here, a systematic study is performed, revealing that a major culprit for the limited operational stability is that the employed n‐type host, 1,3‐bis[2‐(4‐tert‐butylphenyl)‐1,3,4‐oxadiazo‐5‐yl]benzene (OXD‐7), has a strong propensity for crystallization and that this crystallization results in a detrimental phase separation of the constituents in the active material during device operation. The authors, therefore, identify an alternative class of concept‐functional n‐type hosts in the form of spirobifluorene‐phosphine‐oxide compounds, and report that the replacement of OXD‐7 with amorphous 2,7‐bis(diphenylphosphoryl)‐9,9′‐spirobifluorene results in a much improved operational lifetime of 700 h at >100 cd m−2 during constant‐bias driving at an essentially retained high current efficacy of 37.9 cd A−1 and a strong luminance of 2940 cd m−2.

We report on the synthesis of CsPbBr3 perovskite quantum dots (PeQDs) with a high solubility of 75 g/L in toluene and a good film-forming property, as enabled by a dense layer of didodecyldimethyla...

The light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC) has demonstrated capacity for cost- and material-efficient solution-based fabrication of the active material under ambient air. In this context, it is notable that corresponding reports on a scalable solution-based fabrication of the electrodes, particularly the top electrode, are rare. We address this issue through the demonstration of a transparent LEC, which is fabricated under ambient air by sequential spray deposition of a hydrophobic conjugated-polymer:ionic-liquid blend ink as the active material and a hydrophilic poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) ink as the transparent top electrode. Such an optimized LEC delivers a luminance of 360 cd/m 2 at a power efficacy of 1.6 lm/W, which is on par with the performance of a corresponding LEC device equipped with a vacuum-deposited and reflective metal top electrode. This implies that the entire LEC device indeed can be fabricated with solution-based processes and deliver a good performance, which is critical if the LEC technology is going to fulfil its low-cost potential. • Solution-based spray deposition of the transparent top electrode. • Successive spray deposition of the active material and the top electrode. • Solution-based fabrication of light-emitting electrochemical cells under ambient air. • Transparent light-emission device.