High-Performance Narrowband Blue Electroluminescence with EQE Approaching 20% Based on Hybridized Local and Charge-Transfer Multi-Resonant Molecules

Abstract

Designing multi-resonant (MR) materials that integrate narrowband emission and efficient exciton utilization remains challenging, especially for indolocarbazole (ICz) cores. To address this, two novel ICz-derived MR emitters, 4CzmICz and 4CzpICz, were developed by strategically extending π-conjugation via peripheral carbazole units. This modulates chargetransfer (CT) states while retaining MR character, endowing both molecules with hybridized local and charge transfer (HLCT) properties. The meta-isomer 4CzmICz exhibits exceptional deep-blue emission (430 nm, FWHM = 14 nm in hexane). The para-isomer 4CzpICz achieves record HLCT-OLED performance: a narrowband device (FWHM = 29 nm) with 19.5% external quantum efficiency (EQE). In an exciplex-sensitized configuration, EQE reaches 25.0% without emission broadening. This work pioneers MR-HLCT integration and establishes a roadmap for next-generation OLED materials.

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
16 Aug 2025
Accepted
18 Nov 2025
First published
28 Nov 2025
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2025, Accepted Manuscript

High-Performance Narrowband Blue Electroluminescence with EQE Approaching 20% Based on Hybridized Local and Charge-Transfer Multi-Resonant Molecules

H. Li, J. Qin, T. Ma, J. Zeng, Z. Chen, Y. Fu, H. Lu, Z. Zhao and X. J. Feng, Chem. Sci., 2025, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D5SC06259D

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