Enhanced phosphorescence and electroluminescence in triplet emitters by doping gold into cadmium selenide/zinc sulfide nanoparticles

Gold-cadmium selenide/zinc sulfide (Au-CdSe/ZnS) nanocomposites (NCs) were synthesized and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, ultraviolet-visible (UV-visible) absorption and photoluminescence (PL) emission spectroscopy. The PL intensity in the Au-CdSe/ZnS NCs system was found to be much greater than that of CdSe/ZnS nanoparticles (NPs) alone, because of the surface-enhanced Raman scattering of Au NPs. Adding Au-CdSe/ZnS NCs to the cyclometalated iridium(III) complex (Ir-complex) greatly enhanced the PL intensity of a triplet emitter. Three double-layered electroluminescence (EL) devices were fabricated where the emitting zone contains the definite mixture of Ir-complex and the NCs [molar concentration of Ir-complex/NCs = 1:0 (Blank, D-1), 1:1 (D-2) and 1:3 (D-3)] and the device D-2 exhibited optimal EL performances.