Fluorinated Carbazole Derivatives as Wide-Energy-Gap Host Material for Blue Phosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

2,7-Difluo-carbazole and 2,4,5,7-tetrafluoro-carbazole were synthesized as new building blocks of wide-energy-gap host material for phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PHOLEDs). These fluorinated positions in the carbazole ring were determined on the basis of density functional theory calculation results. Spectroscopic analyses supported the hypothesis that poly­(<i>N</i>-vinyl-2,7-difluoro-carbazole) (2,7-F-PVK) with the fluorinated pendant group possessed a wide energy gap, leading to the exciton energy confinement on the blue phosphorescent dopant as well as nonsubstituted poly­(<i>N</i>-vinyl-carbazole) (PVK). 2,7-F-PVK was used in solution-processed blue PHOLED to achieve 27 cd/A at 760 cd/m², which is 1.8 times higher than that of nonsubstituted PVK. We assumed that the replacement of nonsubstituted PVK with 2,7-F-PVK improved the charge balance in the emission layer, while keeping the exciton confinement effect. The fluorination of the carbazole ring is a useful molecular design strategy for wide-energy-gap host material