President DGIST Energy Science and Engineering Professor Youngu Lee is heading a research team. They have indeed taken the lead with major breakthroughs in quantum-dot light-emitting diode (QLED) technology. In the aims, the interdisciplinary team worked to develop a new organic hole transport layer (HTL) material with a stable molecular structure derived from dibenzofuran. This groundbreaking innovation significantly increases the efficiency, effectiveness and longevity of QLED technologies. Their unexpected discovery, published this week in the journal Small, has unlocked a potential leap forward in next-generation display technology.
This HTL material successfully demonstrates the exceptional stability of dibenzofuran, enabling superior performance in QLED applications. This research demonstrates that the device has a seven-year lifetime. It has been able to get to a T₅₀ of greater than 1.46 million hours at 100 cd m⁻². This figure amounts to an incredible 66x longer life-span than traditional QLED products in the market today.
Breakthrough in Efficiency
The newly developed HTL material has notable durability. Due to this innovation, the research team was able to produce green QLED devices with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 25.7%. This kind of efficiency is key to making our displays faster, more powerful, and better looking than ever. Alongside improving overall device stability, the incorporation of dibenzofuran into the HTL improves the resultant thermal light emission properties exhibited by the device.
The impact of these innovations can’t be overstated, as efficiency and lifespan are particularly important concerns in consumer electronics. Now with increased emphasis on sustainable technology with this new development, QLEDs are making themselves the clear choice for display technology in the future. Professor Lee’s research group has paved important new paths to investigate organic materials. These materials hold promise to improve next-generation high-performance electronic devices.
Publication and Future Implications
The research findings were published on August 25, 2025, in the journal “Small,” accessible through phys.org with the DOI: 10.1002/smll.202504867. The recent release of these results is an important reminder that interdisciplinary collaboration is essential in moving technology forward. Protecting Team’s work furthers the academic understanding of this field tremendously. Further, it allows for some extremely thrilling industrial uses in presentation technology.
The development of dibenzofuran as a stable molecular framework now provides exciting possibilities for future investigations. The team leveraged AFM height images of other films with various dibenzofuran configurations, including 1-PFDBF, 2-PFDBF, 3-PFDBF, and 4-PFDBF. Their research has done great work in establishing a baseline for what kinds of structural differences impact performance.