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Updated: Sep 22, 2025

Time-resolved Photophysical Characterization of Triplet-harvesting Organic Compounds at an Oxygen-free Environment Using an iCCD Camera
Published on: December 27, 2018
Singlet and triplet to doublet energy transfer: improving organic light-emitting diodes with radicals
Feng Li1,2, Alexander J Gillett2, Qinying Gu2
1State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Qianjin Avenue 2699, Changchun, 130012, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) must be engineered to circumvent the efficiency limit imposed by the 3:1 ratio of triplet to singlet exciton formation following electron-hole capture. Here we show the spin nature of luminescent radicals such as TTM-3PCz allows direct energy harvesting from both singlet and triplet excitons through energy transfer, with subsequent rapid and efficient light emission from the doublet excitons. This is demonstrated with a model Thermally-Activated Delayed Fluorescence (TADF) organic semiconductor, 4CzIPN, where reverse intersystem crossing from triplets is characteristically slow (50% emission by 1 µs). The radical:TADF combination shows much faster emission via the doublet channel (80% emission by 100 ns) than the comparable TADF-only system, and sustains higher electroluminescent efficiency with increasing current density than a radical-only device. By unlocking energy transfer channels between singlet, triplet and doublet excitons, further technology opportunities are enabled for optoelectronics using organic radicals.
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