Synthesis and Electro-optical Properties of π-Conjugated Polymer Based on 10-Hexylphenothiazine and Aromatic 1,2,4-Triazole

Synthesis and Electro-optical Properties of π-Conjugated Polymer Based on 10-Hexylphenothiazine and Aromatic 1,2,4-Triazole

New $\pi$-conjugated polymer with vinylene linkage, poly((10-hexyl-3,7-phenothiazine)-alt-(4-(4-butyl-phenyl)- 3,5-diphenyl-4H-[1,2,4]triazole)-3,5-vinylene) (PTV-TAZ) was synthesized by the Heck coupling reaction. The photoluminescence (PL) maximum wavelength and the band gap energy of PTV-TAZ film were 555 nm and 2.41 eV, respectively. The HOMO energy level of PTV-TAZ was -4.99 eV, which was slightly lower than that of PTV (-4.89 eV). Electron deficient aromatic 1,2,4-triazole (TAZ) in the polymer backbone does not affect the HOMO energy level significantly. The maximum efficiency and brightness of double layer structured electroluminescent (EL) device (ITO/PEDOT (30 nm)/PTV-TAZ (60 nm)/Al) were 0.247 cd/A and 553 cd/$m^2$, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the device based PTV (1.65 ${\times}\;10^{-4}$ cd/A and 4.3 cd/$m^2$). This is due to that TAZ unit improves electron transporting ability in the emissive layer. The turn-on voltage (defined as the voltage required to give a luminescence of 1 cd/$m^2$) of brightness of the device based on PTV-TAZ was 12.0 V, which was similar to that the based on PTV (11.5 V). This is due to that the ionization potential of PTV-TAZ is very similar to that of PTV.