Yellow-green electroluminescence of samarium complexes of 8-hydroxyquinoline

Four novel samarium complexes were prepared by reacting samarium(III) nitrate with 8-hydroxyquinoline, 2-methyl-8-hydroxyquinoline, and 1,10-phenanthroline and utilized as emitting materials in the electroluminescence device. All complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, infrared, UV-vis and 1H NMR spectroscopes and the molecular structure of a representative complex, [Sm2(Me-HQ)4(NO3)6] (1), was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Utilization of a π-conjugated (phenanthroline) ligand as a second ligand in the structure of the samarium complexes resulted in red shifts in both absorption and fluorescence spectra of complexes and moderately enhanced the photoluminescence intensity and the fluorescence quantum yield. The maximum emission peaks showed that a good correlation exists between the nature of the substituent group on the 8-hydroxyquinoline and the addition of the π-conjugated ligand in the structure of samarium complexes and emission wavelength. Devices with samarium(III) complexes with structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS (90 nm)/PVK:PBD:Sm(III) complexes (75 nm)/Al (180 nm) were fabricated. In the electroluminescence (EL) spectra of the devices, a strong ligand-centered emission and narrow bands arising from the 4G5/2→6HJ transitions (J=7/2, 9/2, and 11/2) of the samarium ion were observed for the complexes. The electroluminescent spectra of the samarium complexes were red-shifted as compared with the PVK:PBD blend. We believe that the electroluminescence performance of OLED devices based on samarium complexes relies on overlaps between the absorption of the samarium compounds and the emission of PVK:PBD. This revealed that it is possible to evaluate the electroluminescence performance of the samarium compounds-doped OLED devices based on the emission of PVK:PBD and the absorption of the dopants.