Citation: Xilin Mu, Tong Wang, Deli Li, Denghui Liu, Jiahui Wang, Jiuyan Li, Shijian Su, Wei Li, Ziyi Ge. Synergistic steric hindrance and multiple resonance effect for efficient TADF with narrowband emission and accelerated upconversion[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(6): 111986. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111986 shu

Synergistic steric hindrance and multiple resonance effect for efficient TADF with narrowband emission and accelerated upconversion

Xilin Mu ^{a, b, d, 1} ,
Tong Wang ^{c, 1} ,
Deli Li ^{e, 1} ,
Denghui Liu ^c ,
Jiahui Wang ^d ,
Jiuyan Li ^d ,
Shijian Su ^{c, *,} ,
Wei Li ^{a, b, *,} ,
Ziyi Ge ^{a, b, *,}

a.
Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
b.
Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
c.
State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices and Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
d.
Frontier Science Center for Smart Materials, College of Chemistry, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
e.
Institute for Smart Materials & Engineering, University of Jinan, Ji’nan 250022, China

mssjsu@scut.edu.cn

liwei1987@nimte.ac.cn

geziyi@nimte.ac.cn

Received Date: 26 May 2025
Revised Date: 16 October 2025
Accepted Date: 20 October 2025
Available Online: 21 October 2025

Figures(5)

Herein, we propose a synergistic regulation strategy that combines steric hindrance with the multiple resonance (MR) effect to design and synthesize a thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) emitter, SF-PhDABNA. This is achieved by incorporating spirofluorene units and introducing meta-position phenyl linkages into the DABNA-1 core. As a result, SF-PhDABNA exhibits narrowband pure blue emission centered at 472 nm with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 23 nm. The unique steric hindrance structure of the material effectively suppresses π-π interaction, while maintaining a tightly ordered molecular arrangement through C–H···π and C–H···B weak intermolecular interactions. This special packing pattern ensures a high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 86% in the doped film. Moreover, the significant directionality of the transition dipole moment (TDM) further enhances the light output coupling efficiency, thereby significantly improving the electroluminescence (EL) performance. The corresponding TADF-sensitized (TSF) OLED based on SF-PhDABNA achieves a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE_max) of 23.9% with CIE coordinates of (0.121, 0.284).
- Spirofluorene,
- Multiple resonance,
- Narrowband emission,
- Organic light-emitting diodes,
- Steric hindrance,
- Thermally activated delayed fluorescence
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