Tetraphenylethene (TPE) nanoparticles have been easily obtained by one-step vacuum sublimation the TPE powder. The TPE molecules crystallize themselves in room temperature which is probably due to their extremely low glass transition temperature. The as-deposited TPE nanoparticles scatter light effectively. By employing the TPE nanoparticles as scattering media for extracting the substrate waveguide light from blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), a 28% efficiency improvement has been obtained. By further co-evaporating the TPE and its derivative 4-(4-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)phenyl)-7-(5-(4-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)phenyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (BTPETTD) as a color conversion and light scattering layer for the blue OLEDs, the blue-to-white photon conversion efficiency of the resultant white OLEDs has been enhanced from 52.7% to 70.1%, representing a 33% improvement. The vacuum sublimed TPE nanoparticles can find a wide variety of applications in optoelectronic devices such as solar cells and LEDs.

4,4′-bis(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)biphenyl (BTPE) nanowires have been facilely grown by either post-annealing its vacuum-sublimed amorphous film or slowly evaporating its chloroform solution. The morphology and density of the nanowires can be easily tuned by changing the growth conditions. For example, isolated single nanowires were readily obtained by thermally depositing the BTPE on a heated substrate, while bundles of nanotubes can be achieved by slowly evaporating a droplet of the BTPE solution. The self-assembled BTPE nanowires show enhanced and blue-shifted photoluminescence compared with that of its amorphous film. The nanowires exhibit a highly hydrophobic surface with a water contact angle of 126°. Also, the BTPE nanowires scatter the light effectively due to the random orientation of the wires. By depositing the BTPE nanowires on the backside of the glass substrate as a scattering media for organic light-emitting diodes, a 31.5% efficiency improvement has been achieved.Graphical abstractHighlights► Various BTPE nanostructures have been facilely fabricated by dry or wet processing. ► BTPE nanowires show higher, bluer PL emission, lower wettability and stronger scattering ability. ► A 31.5% efficiency improvement was achieved with BTPE nanowires as scattering media for OLEDs.

To make a full color organic electroluminescent display, conventionally it requires three fine metal shadow masks (FMM) to pattern the red, green and blue light-emitting layer. In this work, by arranging the blue light-emitting layer as a shared layer for all sub-pixels, we demonstrate that a full color display can be achieved by two FMM processes, thus reducing one FMM process compared to conventional method. The red, green and blue sub-pixels can be optimized independently despite the reduction of one FMM process. Also, the performance of the red and green sub-pixels is not degraded by the shared blue light-emitting layer. Due to elimination of one FMM, the process TACT time, mask cost and alignment error can all be reduced, thus cutting down the manufacturing cost of full color organic electroluminescent display.Graphical abstractTo make a full color organic electroluminescent display, conventionally it requires three fine metal shadow masks (FMM) to pattern the red, green and blue light-emitting layer (a). However, we show that by arranging the blue light-emitting layer as a shared layer for all sub-pixels, a full color display can be achieved by two FMM processes, thus reducing one FMM process compared to conventional method (b).Highlights► We reduce one fine shadow mask in the fabrication of full color OLED display. ► R, G, B pixels can be optimized independently despite the elimination of one mask. ► Performance of red, green and blue sub-pixels remains the same. ► Process TACT time, mask cost and alignment error can all be reduced.

Tetraphenylethene (TPE) nanoparticles have been easily obtained by one-step vacuum sublimation the TPE powder. The TPE molecules crystallize themselves in room temperature which is probably due to their extremely low glass transition temperature. The as-deposited TPE nanoparticles scatter light effectively. By employing the TPE nanoparticles as scattering media for extracting the substrate waveguide light from blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), a 28% efficiency improvement has been obtained. By further co-evaporating the TPE and its derivative 4-(4-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)phenyl)-7-(5-(4-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)phenyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (BTPETTD) as a color conversion and light scattering layer for the blue OLEDs, the blue-to-white photon conversion efficiency of the resultant white OLEDs has been enhanced from 52.7% to 70.1%, representing a 33% improvement. The vacuum sublimed TPE nanoparticles can find a wide variety of applications in optoelectronic devices such as solar cells and LEDs.