Exploiting Dual Emission from Single Polymers to Achieve Highly-efficient, Colour-tunable and White Organic Light-Emitting Devices

有机发光器件（OLED）使用具有由共轭环和π电子构建的结构的聚合物来将电能转化为可见光。有机物提供比使用当前LED技术更明亮和更高效的显示器;它们更容易制造，并且用于沉积的基板可以是柔性塑料。在这个项目中要研究的新材料是基于一个家庭的发光有机聚合物称为聚芴。合成化学技术将使我们能够系统地改变聚合物的化学结构，从而使发射光的颜色以可控的方式变化。我们将讨论的这项新技术的一个特定目标是调整聚合物的化学结构，以便发射白色光。这在10年前是做梦也想不到的！新的白色光源对社会和经济具有潜在的巨大益处。灯泡是基于大约100年前的技术;荧光灯管效率更高，但它们脆弱，丑陋，不适合家庭使用。照明占英国能源消耗的20%以上，因此用新的更高效的能源取代旧的技术是一个高度优先事项，对公众和环境可能有很大的好处。这个冒险的跨学科项目将结合联合收割机有机合成，物理研究，器件制造和器件性能的测量。我们计划生产新一代OLED材料，了解其基本物理特性，并展示适用于电子显示技术商业化的设备，包括固态照明。

Organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) use polymers with structures built up from conjugated rings and pi-electrons to convert electrical energy into visible light. The organics offer brighter and more efficient displays than are available using current LED technology; they are easier to manufacture and the substrates for their deposition can be flexible plastic. The new materials to be studied in this project are based on a family of light-emitting organic polymers called polyfluorenes. Synthetic chemistry techniques will enable us systematically to modify the chemical structure of the polymer with the result that the colour of the emitted light will change in a controlled way. A particular goal of this new technology which we will address is to tailor the chemical structure of the polymer so that white light is emitted. This is something which could hardly have been even dreamt of 10 years ago! New sources of white light are potentially of great benefit to society and the economy. Light bulbs are based on technology which is about 100 years old; fluorescent tubes are more efficient, but they are fragile, ugly and not well suited to home use. Lighting accounts for more than 20% of the UK's energy consumption, so replacing this old technology with new more efficient sources is a high priority, with potentially great benefit to the general public and the environment.This adventurous interdisciplinary project will combine organic synthesis, photophysical studies, device fabrication and measurements of the device properties. We plan to produce a new generation of materials for OLEDs, to understand their fundamental photophysical properties and to demonstrate devices which will be applicable to commercialisation in electronic display technologies, including solid state lighting.