Rapid Multiscale Computational Screening for OLED Host Materials

Sylvinson M. R., Daniel; Chen, Hsiao-Fan; Martin, Lauren M.; Saris, Patrick J. G.; Thompson, Mark E.

doi:10.1021/acsami.8b16225

Title: Rapid Multiscale Computational Screening for OLED Host Materials

Journal Article · Mon Jan 14 00:00:00 EST 2019 · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.8b16225· OSTI ID:1735840

Sylvinson M. R., Daniel ^[1]; Chen, Hsiao-Fan ^[1]; Martin, Lauren M. ^[1]; Saris, Patrick J. G. ^[1];

^[1]

Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

The design of new host materials for phosphorescent OLEDs is challenging because several physical property requirements must be met simultaneously. A triplet energy (E_T) higher than that of the chosen emitting dopant, appropriate HOMO/LUMO energy levels, good charge carrier transport, and high stability are all required. Here, computational methods were used to screen structures to find the most promising candidates for OLED hosts. The screening was carried out in three Tiers. The Tier 1 selection, based on Density Functional Theory calculations identified a set of eight molecular structures with E_T > 2.9 eV, suitable for hosting blue phosphorescent dopants such as iridium(III)bis((4,6-di-fluorophenyl)-pyridinato-N,C2’)picolinate (FIrpic). Phenanthro[9,10 d]imidazole was chosen as the starting point for the Tier 2 selection. Thirty seven unique molecular structures were enumerated by isoelectronic nitrogen transmutation of up to two CH fragments of the phenanthrene. Three molecules, i.e. imidazo[4,5 f] phenanthrolines with nitrogens at the 1,10 , 3,8 and 4,7 positions, were selected for Tier 3, which involved the use of molecular dynamics simulations and electron coupling calculations to predict differences in charge transport between the three materials. The three were explored experimentally through synthesis and device fabrication. The singlet, triplet, and frontier orbital energies computed using single molecule DFT calculations (tiers 1 and 2) were consistent with the experimental values in fluid solution, and the multi scale modeling scheme (tier 3) correctly predicted the poor device performance of one material. Here, we conclude that screening host materials using only single molecule quantum mechanical data was not sufficient to predict whether a given material would make a good OLED host with certainty, however they can be used to screen out materials that are destined to fail due to low singlet/triplet energies or a poor match of the frontier orbital energies to the dopant or transport materials.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0007077

OSTI ID:: 1735840

Journal Information:: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Vol. 11, Issue 5; ISSN 1944-8244

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Rapid Multiscale Computational Screening for OLED Host Materials

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