Abstract:
Recent developments have shown that purely organic molecules exploiting thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) can utilize non-emissive triplet excitons for light emission through reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) processes. As a result, the exciton utilization efficiencies of TADF-based OLEDs can approach 100%. The electroluminescent molecule with TADF characteristics combines the advantages of the first-generation fluorescent emitters and the second-generation phosphorescent emitters by realizing 100% internal quantum efficiencies while reducing the material cost for commercialization. TADF materials now represent the third-generation of OLED emitters and offer an effective approach to breaking through the bottleneck of blue OLEDs. In this review, we focus on the development of high-performance blue TADF molecules, systematically elaborating on the design strategy of efficient and stable blue TADF molecules. Our discussion includes the achievement of high photoluminescence quantum yield, short excition lifetime, narrow full width half maximum, good molecular horizontal orientation and excellent stability. We aim to provide a scientific basis for the development of high-efficiency and stable blue TADF molecules. Additionally, we include an overview of outstanding issues and the research prospects of blue TADF molecules. We hope that this review contributes to the advancement of the field and provides insight into the design of high-performance blue TADF materials.