Chinese scientists have discovered a way to boost the efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), it has been reported.

According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, the finding could help to reduce the cost of OLEDs, which already hold a number of advantages over conventional liquid crystal display (LCD) screens.

One of the main benefits of OLEDs is that they eliminate the need for a backlight as light produced by OLEDs comes directly from the organic polymers that make up the display. They therefore consume less power and can be made thinner.

However, the effectiveness of OLEDs depends on an 'emissive layer' of phosphorescent material.

This emissive layer ensures that light generated by the polymer is harnessed.

There are problems associated with this though, as the best materials that can be used for this purpose are complexes of iridium(III) with large cyclic ligands, and the creation of these complexes requires high temperatures or expensive catalysts.

A team led by Biao Wang at Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China has addressed this issue by developing a new iridium complex.

This complex is much easier to make and is also soluble, which means it could potentially be sprayed onto a surface.

"This is an interesting compound and an excellent result," Mark Thompson, an OLED specialist at the University of South California, told the publication.

"We will certainly learn from this research - there are now a number of viable candidates for making bigger OLED displays."

Source:

OLED displays brighten up, 18/03/08
http://www.rsc.org/publishing/journals/JM/article.asp?doi=b800977e

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