Lone Pairs of Zerovalent Carbon Enable Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence from Carbon-to-Ligand Charge-Transfer Excited States

Key Points

• The aim is to explore how lone pairs of zerovalent carbon can facilitate thermally activated delayed fluorescence in new materials.
• Investigated the role of zerovalent carbon centers in excited states.
• Compared the performance to traditional 3d- and 4d-metal-based luminophores.
• Demonstrated effective thermally activated delayed fluorescence from carbon-to-ligand charge-transfer states.
• Achieved performance competitive with existing metal-based TADF materials.