Soluble Functional Compounds for Solution-Processed Organic Electronics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current electronic devices based on small molecules face challenges in production due to the need for expensive multistep vacuum processes, and those produced by solution-based methods exhibit reduced performance and lifetime due to low solubility of non-polymeric compounds in solvents, limiting their cost-effectiveness and adaptability for large-area devices.
Innovation Solution
A formulation comprising a solvent and functional compounds with specific structural elements that enhance solubility, allowing for the creation of organic electronic devices with improved properties, such as increased solubility, performance, and cost-effectiveness by using a mixture of functional compounds dissolved or dispersed in an organic solvent, particularly aromatic or heteroaromatic compounds with specific Hansen solubility parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If non-polymeric compounds are used in electronic devices, then device performance and lifetime are improved, but solubility in solvents is low making solution-based production difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines non-polymeric functional compounds with polymeric carriers to create composite formulations. The polymeric component provides solubility and processability in solution-based methods, while the non-polymeric functional compounds maintain their high performance and long lifetime characteristics in the electronic devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The polymeric carrier acts as an intermediary substance that enables solution-based processing of non-polymeric functional compounds. The carrier dissolves the functional compounds and facilitates their deposition via solution methods, while the functional compounds retain their functionality after device formation.
2Reliability
If small-molecule OLEDs are produced by gas-phase deposition, then device performance is high, but production cost is very high due to multistep vacuum processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical vacuum deposition process with a solution-based coating method. Instead of using complex vacuum equipment and multistep deposition processes, the formulation allows direct coating from solution using simpler, more cost-effective methods while maintaining device performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state and processing parameters of the functional compounds by formulating them in solution. This allows transition from gas-phase deposition to solution-based coating, fundamentally changing the manufacturing approach and reducing equipment requirements and costs.
3Ease of manufacture
If small-molecule OLEDs are produced by solution-based methods, then production cost is reduced, but device performance and lifetime are reduced due to low solubility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates composite formulations where polymeric carriers enable solution processing, but the functional non-polymeric compounds are preserved to maintain high device performance. This composite approach allows solution-based low-cost manufacturing without sacrificing device quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the solubility function from the functional compounds by separating the polymeric carrier (which provides solubility) from the non-polymeric functional compounds (which provide performance). This separation allows each component to fulfill its optimal function independently.
Data Source
AI summary
A formulation comprising at least one solvent and at least two different functional compounds of formula (I)AB]kââ(I)whereinA is a functional structural element, the structural element serving as a host material, as a unit that has hole-injection and/or hole-transport properties, as a unit that has electron-injection and/or electron-transport properties, as a unit which has light-emitting properties, or as a unit which improves the transfer from the singlet state to the triplet state of light-emitting compounds;B is a solubility-promoting structural element; andk is an integer in the range from 1 to 20;the molecular weight of the functional compound is at least 550 g/mol, and the solubility-promoting structural element B conforms to the general formula (L-I)