Synergistic Steric Effect of Precursor And Antisolvent Enables Strongly Confined Perovskite Films with Efficient and Spectral Stable Blue Emission

Reducing the crystal size of perovskites to the strong quantum confinement regime is an effective way to realize blue luminescence for light-emitting applications. However, challenges remain in directly constraining the crystal growth during film preparation to achieve three-dimensional quantum confinement, and the widely used long-chain ligands may bring difficulties for charge transport and unfavorably affect the device performance. Herein, we report a novel strategy for fabricating strongly confined blue-emitting perovskite nanocrystalline films via synergistic steric effect modulation by precursors and antisolvents. We synthesize cesium pentafluoropropanoate (CsPFPA) as a new type of precursor agent, where the steric effect of the PFPA group can help constrain the growth of perovskite crystals and passivate the defects. Furthermore, different types of antisolvents with varied molecular sizes and steric hindrance are used to regulate the size of perovskite crystals and improve film quality. Consequently, highly emissive blue perovskite films are realized with the emission wavelength effectively tuned in the blue region by varying the concentration of CsPFPA as well as the type of antisolvents. Based on the strongly confined perovskite films, blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are constructed, showing good spectral tunability and stability in the electroluminescence. This work demonstrates a novel pathway for developing bright perovskite blue emitters for LEDs, which may potentially advance their future applications in display and lighting.