Efficient electroluminescence based on a novel binuclear rhenium complex

A novel binuclear rhenium(I) (ReI) carbonyl complex with the formula [Re(DF)(CO)3Br]2, where DF represented 4,5-diazafluorene, was designed and synthesized for applications in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The OLEDs employing [Re(DF)(CO)3Br]2 as an emitter with the structure of ITO/m-MTDATA(10 nm)/NPB(20 nm)/CBP: Re-complex(x%, 30 nm)/Bphen(10 nm)/Alq3(30 nm)/LiF(1 nm)/Al(100 nm) were fabricated. The OLEDs based on [Re(DF)(CO)3Br]2 exhibited green–yellow emissions with a peak current efficiency of 8.2 cd/A at 16 cd/m2 and a maximum brightness of 2026 cd/m2 at 17.5 V, respectively, which confirmed that the binuclear Re-complex could function as an efficient phosphor emitter.