Application of Chelate Phosphine Oxide Ligand in EuIII Complex with Mezzo Triplet Energy Level, Highly Efficient Photoluminescent, and Electroluminescent Performances

The chelate phosphine oxide ligand bis(2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl) ether oxide (DPEPO) was used as a unit neutral ligand to prepare the complex Eu(TTA)(3)(DPEPO) 1 (TTA = 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetonate). Compound 1 has a photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield of 55.3%, which is more than the twice of the PL quantum yield of Eu(TTA)(3)(TPPO)(2) (TPPO = triphenylphosphine oxide). Investigation indicated that DPEPO in 1 has the mezzo first triplet excited energy level (T(1)) between the first singlet excited energy level (S(1)) and T(1) of TTA, which may support one more additional energy transfer routines from the T(1) energy level of DPEPO to that of TTA, and consequently results in the improvement of energy transfer in the Eu(III) complex. DPEPO forms a complex with a more rigid and compact structure that can improve energy transfer between ligands and the center Eu(III) ion, support the higher saturation level by the coordinating ability of the oxygen atom in the ether moiety, and consequently enhance the PL intensity and efficiency of the corresponding Eu(III) complex. The multilayered electroluminescent (EL) device of 1 used as the red dopant exhibited an impressive brightness of 632 cd m(-2) at 25 V. The device had the excellent voltage-independent spectral stability with an emission peak at 615 nm. To the best of our knowledge, this luminescence is the brightest emission among Eu complexes with phosphine oxide ligands. The maximum external quantum yield (eta(ext)) of 2.89% and the maximum current and power efficiency of 4.58 cd A(-1) and 2.05 lm W(-1) were achieved at a low turn-on voltage of 7 V and current density of 0.021 mA cm(-2). These properties demonstrate that the chelate phosphine oxides ligand DPEPO can not only be favorable to form the rigid and compact complex structure and increase the efficiency of devices, but also reduce the ability of the formation of exciplex. DPEPO shows much better performance compared with the ordinary phosphine oxide ligand triphenylphosphine oxide.