An approach to the luminance increase of the europium-based OLED is proposed through the formation of the mixed-ligand complex. The introduction of two diverse anionic ligands around one europium ion forming a mixed-ligand complex is confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction, 1H and 19F NMR spectroscopy, MALDI MS spectroscopy, and luminescence spectroscopy. A decrease in the symmetry of the coordination environment leads to a 50% reduction of the lifetime of the excited state. The obtained OLEDs based on mixed ligand europium complexes are significantly superior in luminance to OLEDs based on individual complexes.
An increase in the efficiency for a terbium-based OLED was achieved by introducing gold nanoparticles into the PEDOT:PSS hole injection layer and was mainly due to the improvement in carrier injection and the reduction of the excited-state lifetime. The introduction of plasmon-resonant gold nanoparticles resulted in a 50% increase in the Tb(czb)3TDZP luminance, which reached 480 cd m−2 and is the highest result for OLEDs based on aromatic carboxylates.