Efficient and color-stable solid-state white light-emitting electrochemical cells employing red color conversion layers

We report efficient and color-stable white light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) by combining single-layered blue-emitting LECs with red-emitting color conversion layers (CCLs) on the inverse side of the glass substrate. By judicious choosing of the red-emitting dye doped in CCLs, good spectral overlap between the absorption spectrum of the red-emitting dye and the emission spectrum of the blue-emitting emissive material results in efficient energy transfer and thus sufficient down-converted red emission at low doping concentrations of the red-emitting dye in the CCLs. Low doping concentration is beneficial in reducing self-quenching of the red-emitting dye, rendering efficient red emission. Electroluminescent (EL) measurements show that the peak external quantum efficiency and the peak power efficiency of the white LECs employing red CCLs reach 5.93% and 15.34 lm W−1, respectively, which are among the highest reported for white LECs. Furthermore, these devices exhibit bias-insensitive white EL spectra, which are required for practical applications, due to nondoped emissive layers. These results reveal that single-layered blue-emitting LECs combined with red-emitting CCLs are one of the potential candidates for efficient and color-stable white light-emitting devices.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights► A novel LEC device structure offers a high external quantum efficiency of 5.93%. ► Power efficiencies of such single-layered devices reach 15.34 lm W−1. ► White EL spectra are bias-independent due to nondoped emissive layers. ► A practical technique for efficient and color-stable white light-emitting devices.