Boric acid additive strategy for improving the performance of carbon dot-based light-emitting diodes

Carbon dots (CD)-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with low cost, easy acquisition, and environmental friendliness are an emerging display technology worth further exploration. However, it is still a challenge to prepare CD-based LEDs with high performance and spectral modulation. In this study, green-emitting CDs (G-CDs) were prepared into LEDs by the traditional solution method. These G-CD-based LEDs reach maximum brightness and external quantum efficiency of 400 cd/m² and 0.02%, respectively. By further introducing boric acid into G-CDs, yellow emitting carbon dots (Y-CDs) were successfully prepared. This additive engineering achieves spectral modulation, and the maximum brightness and external quantum efficiency are close to 2 times and 3 times that of the control device. This study shows the potential of boric acid in optimizing the performance of CD-based LEDs.