Design and Synthesis of Organic Materials for OLED Applications
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The rapid evolution of electronic devices ranging from smartphones and tablets to TVs and digital displays has driven intense research into materials that support lightweight, high-resolution, and energy-efficient technologies. Among the most promising solutions are organic semiconductors, which have gained significant traction due to their low processing costs, mechanical flexibility, tunable properties, and environmental compatibility. These materials now play a pivotal role in the development of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), organic solar cells (OSCs), sensors, and particularly organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), which have become central to modern display technologies.
As OLEDs gain widespread commercial use, the demand for improved emissive materials, especially those delivering efficient and stable blue, red, and green emission, continues to grow. Research progress in phosphorescent and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials has helped address performance gaps, yet further innovation is necessary to meet increasing industry expectations. In this context, density functional theory (DFT) calculations play a crucial role in guiding molecular design, enabling the prediction and optimization of key electronic and optical properties prior to synthesis.
This Special Issue presents a comprehensive review of recent advances in both organic emissive materials and device-engineering approaches. It maps out the landscape of materials under exploration, including small molecules, conjugated polymers, organometallic complexes, perovskite-based systems, and carbon dots. In addition, the review highlights progress in multilayer OLED device architectures, focusing on organic interfacial layers such as PEDOT:PSS alternatives, charge injection/transport layers, and cathode/anode modifiers, all of which are essential for improving charge balance and extending device lifetime.
By unifying insights from computational chemistry, materials science, and engineering design, this Special Issue aims to offer a forward-looking perspective on the pathways toward next-generation OLED technologies and their integration into future optoelectronic applications.
Dr. Dalius Gudeika
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- OLED
- TADF
- DFT calculations
- organic light-emitting transistors (OLETs)
- optoelectronics
- emissive materials
- multilayer device architectures
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