Feeling blue? Blue phosphors for OLEDs

Research on organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) has been revitalized, partly due to the debut of the OLED TV by SONY in 2008. While there is still plenty of room for improvement in efficiency, cost-effectiveness and longevity, it is timely to report on the advances of light emitting materials, the core of OLEDs, and their future perspectives. The focus of this account is primarily to chronicle the blue phosphors developed in our laboratory. Special attention is paid to the design strategy, synthetic novelty, and their OLED performance. The report also underscores the importance of the interplay between chemistry and photophysics en route to true-blue phosphors.