Improved electron injection and transport by use of baking soda as a low-cost, air-stable, n-dopant for solution-processed phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes

Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, NaHCO3) is found to be an efficient low-cost, air-stable, and environmentally friendly n-dopant for electron-transport layer (ETL) in solution-processed phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PhOLEDs). A 2.0-fold enhancement in power efficiency of blue PhOLEDs is observed by use of NaHCO3-doped 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (BPhen) ETL. The bulk conductivity of NaHCO3-doped BPhen film is increased by 5 orders of magnitude. Enhanced performance of PhOLEDs is similarly observed by use of NaHCO3-doped 1,3,5-tris(m-pyrid-3-yl-phenyl)benzene ETL. These results demonstrate that sodium bicarbonate is an effective n-dopant in organic electronics.