Recent advances in the design of high-performance phosphorescent emitters have led to the leap-forward development of organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) and their applications in commercial electronic products, including computer monitors, cellular phones, and high-density televisions. With the dedicated efforts of the team during these five years, a significant impact to the fields of OLEDs and organic photovoltaics (OPVs) has been made.

The research team stresses that sustainable lighting technology should incorporate a new principle that includes (i) energy saving, (ii) long product lifetime and (iii) recyclability of product materials. It highlights the important point that “energy-saving technology is not necessarily environmentally-friendly if it generates lots of harmful electronic waste within a short product lifetime”.