White emission from a ternary polymer blend by incomplete cascade energy transfer

White light emission was obtained from a light-emitting diode (LED) prepared from a ternary polymer blend (19:1:1 by weight) consisting of poly(9-vinylcarbazole) (PVK), poly(9,9′-dihexlyfluorene-2,7-divinylene-m-phenylenevinylene-stat-p-phenylenevinylene) (CPDHFPV), and poly2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV), where the order of bandgap energy is PVK>CPDHFPV>MEH-PPV. The major component PVK acted not only as the matrix or diluent but also as the excitation energy donor to help the blend generate white light with high efficiency. Good miscibility between PVK and CPDHFPV facilitated the Förster-type excitation energy transfer from PVK to CPDHFPV enhancing the quantum efficiency. However, poor miscibility between CPDHFPV and MEH-PPV resulted in partial energy transfer between the polymers causing the blend to emit two colors simultaneously. Consequently, the incomplete cascade energy transfer in the blend generated a pure white color near CIE coordinate (0.33, 0.33) and the emissive color of this system showed a low sensitivity to the drive voltage.