Luminescent materials are used in display, lighting, photovoltaic, lasing, and sensing applications. In particular, luminescent organic materials are increasing in usage as much research and development enable them to be viable in everyday applications, albeit at a rate limited by advancements in technology. For example, polydioctylfluorene, the standard blue polymer used in many of these applications, does not possess high thermal and oxidative stability, and becomes green-emitting over time.
The present invention is a method to control the thermo-oxidative stability of blue light-emitting polymers. Using a simple procedure incorporating off-the-shelf materials, the polymer exhibits optical behaviour at elevated temperatures that is similar to the optical behaviour exhibited at room temperature.