Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence in an Organic Cocrystal: Narrowing the Singlet–Triplet Energy Gap via Charge Transfer

Harvesting non-emissive spin-triplet charge-transfer (CT) excitons of organic semiconductors is fundamentally important for increasing the operation efficiency of future devices. Here we observe thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) in a 1:2 CT cocrystal of trans-1,2-diphenylethylene (TSB) and 1,2,4,5-tetracyanobenzene (TCNB). This cocrystal system is characterized by absorption spectroscopy, variable-temperature steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and first-principles calculations. These data reveal that intermolecular CT in cocrystal narrows the singlet-triplet energy gap and therefore facilitates reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) for TADF. These findings open up a new way for the future design and development of novel TADF materials.