Alq3

CAS Number 2085-33-8

MSDS

Alq3, effective electron-transport material for OLEDs

High thermal stability and quantum yield of fluorescence

Tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum(III), commonly known as Alq₃ (CAS number 2085-33-8), is widely used in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) as an electron-transport material (ETM) and emitting layer material (ELM) due to its high thermal stability, high quantum yield of fluorescence and high electron-transport ability.

Alq3 from Ossila was used in the high-impact paper (IF 30.85), Engineering Band-Type Alignment in CsPbBr3 Perovskite-Based Artificial Multiple Quantum Wells, K. Lee et al., Adv. Mater., 33 (17), 2005166 (2021); DOI: 10.1002/adma.202005166.

Alq₃ as the electron-transport and emitting layer material was the first efficient low molecular weight OLED reported by Tang in 1987 [1]. Since then, metaloquinolates have become the focus of new electroluminescent materials research, with Alq₃ being the most studied.

General Information

Full name	Tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum
Synonyms	Alq₃ 8-Hydroxyquinoline aluminum salt Aluminum 8-hydroxyquinolinate Aluminum oxinate Tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum
CAS number	2085-33-8
Molecular formula	C₂₇H₁₈AlN₃O₃
Molecular weight	459.43 g/mol
Absorption	λ_max 259 nm (in THF)
Fluorescence	λ_max 512 nm (in THF)
HOMO / LUMO	HOMO 5.62 eV LUMO 2.85 eV
Classification / Family	Organometallic, Electron transport layer (ETL), Electron injection layer (EIL), OLED emitting layer (ELM)

Product Details

Purity	>99% (sublimed)
Melting point	415.4 °C (DSC onset)
Appearance	Yellow-greenish powder

*Sublimation is a technique used to obtain ultra pure-grade chemicals. For more details about sublimation, please refer to the Sublimed Materials page.

Chemical Structure

Device Structure(s)

Device structure	ITO/ NPB(60 nm)/Alq₃:DCM(7nm)/BCP(12 nm)/ Alq₃(36nm)/ MgAg(200 nm) [2]
Colour	Red
Max. Luminance	1, 000 cd/m²
Max. Current Efficiency	5.66 cd/A

Device structure	ITO/m-MTDATA:MoO_x (3:1, 15 nm)/m-MTDATA (30 nm)/NPB (5 nm)/Alq₃ (50 nm)/BPhen (10 nm)/LiF (1 nm)/Al (100 nm) [3]
Colour	Green
Max. Luminance	42,090 cd/m²
Max. Current Efficiency	4.77 cd/A
Max. Power Efficiency	3.5 lm W⁻¹

Device structure	ITO/α-NPD* (50 nm)/7%-Ir(ppy)₃:CBP (20 nm)/BCP (10 nm)/Alq₃ (40 nm)/Mg–Ag (100 nm)/Ag (20 nm) [4]
Colour	Green
Max EQE	(12.0±0.6)%
Max. Powder Efficiency	(45±2) lm W⁻¹

Device structure	ITO/NPB (30 nm)/NPB: DCJTB: C545T* (10 nm)/NPB (4 nm)/DNA (8 nm)/(BCP) (9 nm)/Alq₃ (30 nm)/LiF (1 nm)/Al (100 nm) [5]
Colour	White
Max. Luminance	13,600 cd/m²
Max. Current Efficiency	12.3 cd/A
Max. Power Efficiency	4.4 lm W⁻¹

Device structure	ITO/2-TNATA:33% WO₃ (100 nm)/NPB (10 nm)/Alq₃ (30 nm)/Bphen (20 nm)/BPhen: 2% Cs (10 nm)/Al (150 nm) [6]
Colour	Green
Operating Voltage for 100 cd/m²	3.1 V
Current Efficiency for 20 mA/cm²	4.4 cd/A
Power Efficiency for 20 mA/cm²	3.3 lm W⁻¹

Device structure	ITO/CuPc(6.0 nm)/[NPB(3.8 nm)/CuPc (1.5 nm)]₄/NPB (15.0 nm)/Alq₃* (60.0 nm)/Mg:Ag/Ag [7]
Colour	Green
Max. Luminance	15,000 cd/m²
Max. Current Efficiency	10.8 cd/A

*For chemical structure information please refer to the cited references.

When fabricating devices, processing and handling materials in a glove box helps maintain their purity and maintain efficiency by avoiding contamination from particulates, moisture, and airborne impurities.

Characterisation

dsc-alq3 — DSC trace of Tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum (Alq3)

Pricing

Grade	Order Code	Quantity	Price
Sublimed (>99% purity)	M381	5 g	£210
Sublimed (>99% purity)	M381	10 g	£340

MSDS Documentation

Alq3 MSDS sheet

Literature and Reviews

Organic electroluminescent diodes, C. Tang et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 51, 913 (1987)
High-efficiency red electroluminescence from a narrow recombination zone confinedby an organic double heterostructure, Z. Xie et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 79, 1048 (2001); doi: 10.1063/1.1390479 .
Very low turn-on voltage and high brightness tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminumbasedorganic light-emitting diodes with a MoOx p-doping layer, G. Xie et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 92, 093305 (2008); doi: 10.1063/1.2890490.

Efficient electrophosphorescence using a doped ambipolar conductive molecular organic thin film, C. Adachi et aL., Org. Electronics, 2(1), 37-43 (2001), doi:10.1016/S1566-1199(01)00010-6.
High efficiency white organic light-emitting devices by effectively controlling exciton recombination region, F. Guo et al., Semicond. Sci. Technol. 20, 310–313 (2005).
Highly Power Efficient Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with a p-Doping Layer, C-C. Chang et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 89, 253504 (2006); doi: 10.1063/1.2405856.
Organic light-emitting diodes with improved hole-electron balance by using copper phthalocyanine/aromatic diamine multiple quantum wells, Y. Qiu et al., Phys. Lett., 80, 2628 (2002); Appl. doi: 10.1063/1.1468894.
Molecular Orbital Study of the First Excited State of the OLED Material Tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum(III), M. D. Halls et al., Chem. Mater., 13 (8), 2632–2640 (2001), DOI: 10.1021/cm010121d.
Organic electroluminescent devices with improved stability, S. A. Van Slyke et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 69, 2160 (1996); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.117151
Metal−Alq₃ Complexes: The Nature of the Chemical Bonding, A. Curioni et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 121 (36), pp 8216–8220 (1999).
Enhancement of power conversion efficiency of P3HT:PCBM solar cell using solution processed Alq3 film as electron transport layer, B. Y. Kadem et al., J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 26:3976–3983 (2015), DOI 10.1007/s10854-015-2933-3.
The impurity effects on OLEDs via transient electroluminescence analysis, C.-F. Lin et al., IEEE 17-20 (2015), 10.1109/AM-FPD.2015.7173184.