Morphological and Interfacial Engineering with a Surfactant Additive Toward High‐Performance Blade‐Coated Quantum Dot Light‐Emitting Diodes
Abstract The development of scalable and cost‐effective solution processes for large‐area quantum light‐emitting diodes (QLEDs) remains a pressing challenge. In this work, the blade‐coating process is explored for fabricating bottom‐emitting QLEDs using a poly(3,4‐ ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styre...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley-VCH
2025-02-01
|
| Series: | Advanced Materials Interfaces |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202400606 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832542879610830848 |
|---|---|
| author | Wei‐Zhi Liu Hong‐Wei Duan Shu‐Guang Meng Dong‐Ying Zhou Liang‐Sheng Liao |
| author_facet | Wei‐Zhi Liu Hong‐Wei Duan Shu‐Guang Meng Dong‐Ying Zhou Liang‐Sheng Liao |
| author_sort | Wei‐Zhi Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The development of scalable and cost‐effective solution processes for large‐area quantum light‐emitting diodes (QLEDs) remains a pressing challenge. In this work, the blade‐coating process is explored for fabricating bottom‐emitting QLEDs using a poly(3,4‐ ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) layer modified with methanol (MeOH) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). By incorporating MeOH into the PEDOT:PSS solution, a significant reduction in surface tension is achieved, resulting in thinner and more uniform films. The addition of PEG further enhanced the film quality by suppressing PEDOT aggregation and improving phase separation, which is confirmed via atomic force microscopy (AFM). These modifications not only enhanced the conductivity of the PEDOT:PSS film due to the conformation changes, but also improved energy level alignment, leading to improved hole‐injecting properties and reduced driving voltages in QLED devices. Small‐area QLEDs with the optimized PEDOT:PSS/MeOH/PEG layer demonstrated peak current efficiencies (CE) and external quantum efficiencies (EQE) comparable to those of spin‐coated devices. The best performance is observed at a PEG concentration of 0.1 mg mL−1, yielding a CE of 33.1 cd A−1 and an EQE of 26.0%. Additionally, large‐area QLEDs (25 × 25 mm) fabricated with this approach showed uniform emission and high efficiencies, underscoring the potential of the blade‐coating method for scalable production of high‐performance QLEDs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-24ed0957ba3c44b99d685231eb620a88 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2196-7350 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Wiley-VCH |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Advanced Materials Interfaces |
| spelling | doaj-art-24ed0957ba3c44b99d685231eb620a882025-02-03T13:24:06ZengWiley-VCHAdvanced Materials Interfaces2196-73502025-02-01123n/an/a10.1002/admi.202400606Morphological and Interfacial Engineering with a Surfactant Additive Toward High‐Performance Blade‐Coated Quantum Dot Light‐Emitting DiodesWei‐Zhi Liu0Hong‐Wei Duan1Shu‐Guang Meng2Dong‐Ying Zhou3Liang‐Sheng Liao4Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon‐Based Functional Materials & Devices Soochow University Suzhou Jiangsu 215123 ChinaInstitute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon‐Based Functional Materials & Devices Soochow University Suzhou Jiangsu 215123 ChinaInstitute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon‐Based Functional Materials & Devices Soochow University Suzhou Jiangsu 215123 ChinaInstitute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon‐Based Functional Materials & Devices Soochow University Suzhou Jiangsu 215123 ChinaInstitute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon‐Based Functional Materials & Devices Soochow University Suzhou Jiangsu 215123 ChinaAbstract The development of scalable and cost‐effective solution processes for large‐area quantum light‐emitting diodes (QLEDs) remains a pressing challenge. In this work, the blade‐coating process is explored for fabricating bottom‐emitting QLEDs using a poly(3,4‐ ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) layer modified with methanol (MeOH) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). By incorporating MeOH into the PEDOT:PSS solution, a significant reduction in surface tension is achieved, resulting in thinner and more uniform films. The addition of PEG further enhanced the film quality by suppressing PEDOT aggregation and improving phase separation, which is confirmed via atomic force microscopy (AFM). These modifications not only enhanced the conductivity of the PEDOT:PSS film due to the conformation changes, but also improved energy level alignment, leading to improved hole‐injecting properties and reduced driving voltages in QLED devices. Small‐area QLEDs with the optimized PEDOT:PSS/MeOH/PEG layer demonstrated peak current efficiencies (CE) and external quantum efficiencies (EQE) comparable to those of spin‐coated devices. The best performance is observed at a PEG concentration of 0.1 mg mL−1, yielding a CE of 33.1 cd A−1 and an EQE of 26.0%. Additionally, large‐area QLEDs (25 × 25 mm) fabricated with this approach showed uniform emission and high efficiencies, underscoring the potential of the blade‐coating method for scalable production of high‐performance QLEDs.https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202400606hole injectionPEDOT:PSSphase separationquantum dotsurface tension |
| spellingShingle | Wei‐Zhi Liu Hong‐Wei Duan Shu‐Guang Meng Dong‐Ying Zhou Liang‐Sheng Liao Morphological and Interfacial Engineering with a Surfactant Additive Toward High‐Performance Blade‐Coated Quantum Dot Light‐Emitting Diodes Advanced Materials Interfaces hole injection PEDOT:PSS phase separation quantum dot surface tension |
| title | Morphological and Interfacial Engineering with a Surfactant Additive Toward High‐Performance Blade‐Coated Quantum Dot Light‐Emitting Diodes |
| title_full | Morphological and Interfacial Engineering with a Surfactant Additive Toward High‐Performance Blade‐Coated Quantum Dot Light‐Emitting Diodes |
| title_fullStr | Morphological and Interfacial Engineering with a Surfactant Additive Toward High‐Performance Blade‐Coated Quantum Dot Light‐Emitting Diodes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Morphological and Interfacial Engineering with a Surfactant Additive Toward High‐Performance Blade‐Coated Quantum Dot Light‐Emitting Diodes |
| title_short | Morphological and Interfacial Engineering with a Surfactant Additive Toward High‐Performance Blade‐Coated Quantum Dot Light‐Emitting Diodes |
| title_sort | morphological and interfacial engineering with a surfactant additive toward high performance blade coated quantum dot light emitting diodes |
| topic | hole injection PEDOT:PSS phase separation quantum dot surface tension |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202400606 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT weizhiliu morphologicalandinterfacialengineeringwithasurfactantadditivetowardhighperformancebladecoatedquantumdotlightemittingdiodes AT hongweiduan morphologicalandinterfacialengineeringwithasurfactantadditivetowardhighperformancebladecoatedquantumdotlightemittingdiodes AT shuguangmeng morphologicalandinterfacialengineeringwithasurfactantadditivetowardhighperformancebladecoatedquantumdotlightemittingdiodes AT dongyingzhou morphologicalandinterfacialengineeringwithasurfactantadditivetowardhighperformancebladecoatedquantumdotlightemittingdiodes AT liangshengliao morphologicalandinterfacialengineeringwithasurfactantadditivetowardhighperformancebladecoatedquantumdotlightemittingdiodes |