Polylactide‐perylene derivative for blue biodegradable organic light‐emitting diodes

Al‐Attar, Hameed; Alwattar, Aula A.; Haddad, Athir; Abdullah, Bassil A.; Quayle, Peter; Yeates, Stephen G.

Abstract

In this work we demonstrate, for the first time, the use of polylactic acid (PLA) as a biodegradable host matrix for the construction of the active emissive layer of organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) devices for potential use in bioelectronics. In this preliminary study, we report a robust synthesis of two fluorescent PLA derivatives, pyrene‐PLA (AH10 ) and perylene‐PLA (AH11 ). These materials were prepared by the ring opening polymerisation of l ‐lactide with hydroxyalkyl‐pyrene and hydroxyalkyl‐perylene derivatives using 1,8‐diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec‐7‐ene as catalyst. OLEDs were fabricated from these materials using a simple device architecture involving a solution‐processed single‐emitting layer in the configuration ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PVK:OXD‐7 (35%):AH10 or AH11 (20%)/TPBi/LiF/Al (ITO, indium tin oxide; PEDOT:PSS, poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with poly(styrenesulfonic acid); PVK, poly(vinylcarbazole); OXD‐7, (1,3‐phenylene)‐bis‐[5‐(4‐tert‐butylphenyl)‐1,3,4‐oxadiazole]; TPBi, 2,2′,2″‐(1,3,5‐benzenetriyl)tris(1‐phenyl‐1H‐benzimidazole)). The turn‐on voltage for the perylene OLED at 10 cd m–2 was around 6 V with a maximum brightness of 1200 cd m–2 at 13 V. The corresponding external quantum efficiency and device current efficiency were 1.5% and 2.8 cd A–1 respectively. In summary, this study provides proof of principle that OLEDs can be constructed from PLA, a readily available and renewable bio‐source.

Citation

Al‐Attar, H., Alwattar, A. A., Haddad, A., Abdullah, B. A., Quayle, P., & Yeates, S. G. (2020). Polylactide‐perylene derivative for blue biodegradable organic light‐emitting diodes. Polymer International, 70(1), 51-58. https://doi.org/10.1002/pi.6083

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 10, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jul 25, 2020
• Publication Date: Dec 5, 2020
• Deposit Date: Aug 5, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 5, 2020
• Journal: Polymer International
• Print ISSN: 0959-8103
• Electronic ISSN: 1097-0126
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 70
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 51-58
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pi.6083
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1295105