STTR Phase I: Developing Thiazolothiazole Molecular Materials for Electronic and Photonic Applications

Award ID: 2223042

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project includes the development of highly fluorescent, next generation dye compounds for a variety of optoelectronic applications. The new materials provide an easily synthesized and synthetically tunable platform to function in both solid-state panel lighting/signage and in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The fluorescent dye materials that are developed will enable low-cost printing processes and manufacturing for large scale lighting and luminescence industries. The technology will also enable OLED manufacturing to transition from thermal evaporation process to low-cost printing processes. The low-cost, high performance, printable dyes may increase panel lighting/OLED use, resulting in positive societal impacts through reduced energy usage, lower prices for existing lighting technologies, and new innovative lighting products. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project seeks to develop a series of highly fluorescent compounds that will be developed and tested for printed lighting panel/signage applications and as blue emitter for OLEDs. A primary barrier to large-scale, luminescent, organic materials devices for OLED lighting and the display/signage market is the limitations of currently available fluorescent molecular compounds in terms of cost, stability, and processability. The high structural tunability, photostability, and high fluorescence quantum yield of the new, high-performance materials make them an attractive option for luminescent molecular device applications. The new materials provide an easily synthesized and synthetically tunable platform to function both as a printable emissive layer for solid-state panel lighting/signage, and as the light emissive layer for solution processable organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The goals of proposed research include the production of solution-processable, photostable dyes for stolid-state panel lighting with solubilities exceeding 1 wt.% in precursor formulations, external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of greater than 30%, and photostabilities exceeding 10,000 hours. In addition, using these compounds, the team seeks to will demonstrate blue-emissive, printable light-emissive layers for OLEDs. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Samir Iqbal