Recent Developments in Light-Emitting Polymers

Conjugated light-emitting polymers (LEPs) have real potential to serve as the active layer in a new generation of emissive displays. Emerging as lead candidates for first-generation displays are poly(1,4-phenylene vinylene)s (PPVs) and poly(9,9-dialkylfluorene)s, as well as other polyaromatic materials. The poly(fluorene)s are at present the most commercially developed of these LEP materials for red–green–blue (RGB) applications. The low power consumption of LEP devices in general makes them particularly suited to mobile applications. Combining solutionprocessable emissive polymers with direct-patterning methods such as ink-jet printing will lead to the possibility of low-cost, high-resolution displays. The synthesis and properties of PPVs and poly(9,9-dialkylfluorene)s are briefly reviewed in this article, with a major focus on recent developments.