In Search of Hosts for Blue OLEDs: Computational Design and Experimental Validation

Considering the difficulties associated with the conventional 'trial and error' method for a complete analysis of a giant molecular space, we took the aid of computational pathway (DFT) in screening a large space search of 780 (12x13x5) molecules to search for a host for the blue emitter. The selection process was completed in three Tiers with the conditions of highest theoretical triplet energy (>2.81 eV), aligned HOMO/LUMO levels w.r.t blue dopant (FIrpic), and position of substituents to meet the optimal requirements as host materials. Tier 1 screened twelve different imidazole heterocycle derivatives as base space groups which resulted in the selection of 4,5-diphenyl-1H-imidazole. Tier 2 process converged the search to mCN-CZ having the highest triplet energy and appropriate HOMO/LUMO level relative to FIrpic and ETL. Further, the carbazole of mCN-CZ was replaced with different aromatic hydrocarbons to find the other best compound in terms of triplet energy and HOMO/LUMO. Tier 3 resulted in another promising candidate (mCN-FL) as possible host materials. The band alignment with guest predicted mCN-FL and mCN-CZ to have optimal device performances compared to CZ-CZ and the experimentally observed device performance was in accordance with virtual screening results when TAPC was utilized as the hole transporter. The device results of mCN-CZ and mCN-FL were better than the reference host TCTA. The obtained results thus proved that a virtual screening process will be a useful tool for synthetic chemists in designing task-specific materials.