A new pyrene cored small organic molecule with a flexible alkyl spacer: a potential solution processable blue emitter with bright photoluminescence

A new pyrene cored small organic molecule viz. 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(4-((5-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)pentyl)oxy)phenyl)pyrene (PY-II) was designed and synthesized. The carbazole moiety with an alkyl spacer was introduced at 1, 3, 6 and 8 positions of the pyrene core to improve the charge transport properties and solution processability. PY-II exhibited excellent solubility in common organic solvents and high thermal stability up to 345 °C. The photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of PY-II in solution was found to be 0.9 with bright blue emission near 450 nm which is just appropriate for the human eye. The solution processed non-doped OLED device fabricated using PY-II as an emissive layer afforded a pure blue emission with CIE coordinates of 0.16 and 0.16, a power efficiency of 0.17 lm W−1, a maximum current efficiency of 0.41 cd A−1 and a maximum brightness of 202 cd m−2