Electroluminescence of (styrene-co-acrylic acid) ionomer/conjugated MEH-PPV blends

This work reports the electroluminescence of poly[2-methoxy-5(2′-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) and poly(styrene-co-acrylic acid-co-1-pyrenylmethyl methacrylate) (SAA) blends in ratios from 0 to 100 wt.% in mass of MEH-PPV. The styrene-co-acrylic copolymer was synthesized with 3 mol% of acrylic acid units to simultaneously enhance blend miscibility and charge transport in MEH-PPV. The morphology was studied using epifluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy in which the pyrenyl-labeled copolymer is used to enhance microscopic contrast. Device performances were compared: those using MEH-PPV have a turn-on voltage of 3.5 V, luminance of 500 cd/m2 and current density of 430 mA/cm2 at 5 V, while MEH-PPV blended with 50 wt.% styrene–acrylic copolymer showed a turn-on voltage of 2.5 V, a luminance of 2300 cd/A and a current density of 640 mA/cm2 at 5 V.