Project description
Extending the lifetime of organic light-emitting diodes
Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are the gold standard for displays, becoming ever more ubiquitous in smartphones and TVs. However, the efficiency and lifetime of blue pixels are far below those of red and green pixels. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the TADFlife project will offer a multidisciplinary PhD programme, preparing a new generation of chemists, physicists and materials scientists to tackle OLED performance issues. TADFlife proposes a holistic approach to address the problem of underperforming OLED emitters, which combines synthesis of new materials, quantum chemistry, device simulations and light out-coupling techniques. Furthermore, the programme will introduce the concept of the ‘smart matrix’, which should help maximise OLED device lifetime without compromising performance.
Objective
The European Training Network TADFlife will train a cohort of young PhD scientists within a multidisciplinary research program conceived from a simple industrial need, high performance blue OLEDs which also have long lifetime. This is not an easy problem to solve, as although OLEDs are now ubiquitous in phone and TV displays, the blue pixels still operate far below the performance and efficiency of the red and green to achieve acceptable lifetime. TADFlife will follow a new approach to solve this problem using the latest generation of OLED materials, thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) emitters. Through a device simulation development program, which incorporates a high degree of basic photophysics input, predictive models of TADFOLED performance and lifetime will be built and used to design new TADF emitters and hosts which overcome the degradation pathways identified from the model predictions. These new materials will then be synthesised. By introducing the concept of the smart matrix, the complex guest host interactions of TADF materials will be included and used to optimise emitter orientation to maximise light out-coupling from devices. Quantum chemistry will use the photophysics results to direct new materials design in tandem with the model predictions. Taking this dual approach, we believe will lead to solutions so far unobtainable for OLEDs. This highly interlinked program gives a fantastic opportunity for the brightest young chemists, spectroscopists, theoreticians and device physicists to work together, learn complimentary skills that will be in high demand from European OLED industries. Leading experts will give courses on core scientific skills along with soft skills and international secondments will be offered, all to properly prepare them for their future careers. They will be part of a network answering a real industrial need and help to secure the future of our European OLED industries in the global OLED materials arena.
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Programme(s)
Coordinator
95447 Bayreuth
Germany
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Participants (9)
KY16 9AJ St Andrews
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43121 PARMA
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86159 Augsburg
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03680 Kyiv
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DH1 3LE Durham
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01513 Vilnius
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64293 Darmstadt
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5612 AS Eindhoven
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
8400 Winterthur
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
Partners (11)
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
606 8501 Kyoto
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5612 AE Eindhoven
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560012 Bangalore
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IA50011 Ames
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30332 0325 Atlanta
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90089 5013 Los Angeles Ca
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151742 SEOUL
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819 0395 Fukuoka
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92121 San Diego, California
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
10223 Vilnius
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
80538 Munchen
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