Content of review 1, reviewed on June 01, 2026
This study involves the design and synthesis of a series of naphthophenanthridine columnar dimers, systematically investigating the influence of alkyl chain length on phase structure, self-assembly, and optoelectronic properties. One of the derivatives was applied in blue OLEDs, achieving an external quantum efficiency of 2.2% and a brightness of 1153 cd/m². The research presents a novel topic with substantial experimental effort. While the data are generally comprehensive and the characterization adheres to standard practices, there are significant shortcomings in the assignment of liquid crystal phases, carrier mechanisms, and the explanation of OLED operating principles. A necessary revision is recommended as follows:
(1) The HOMO level (−5.75 eV) is relatively deep, which complicates hole injection and transport. This issue is directly related to the low current density observed in the device; however, it has not been discussed in depth in the manuscript.
(2) The device efficiency is relatively low (2.2%), and there is insufficient discussion regarding key factors such as exciton utilization, concentration quenching, and energy level alignment.
(3) The influence of alkyl chains on assembly, luminosity, and mobility is only described phenomenologically, with insufficient explanation of the underlying mechanisms such as intermolecular interactions and π-π stacking distances. It is recommended to incorporate XRD lattice parameters and calculations of π-π stacking energies to provide a more in-depth discussion of the microscopic mechanisms by which alkyl chains regulate these properties.
(4) Some sentences are overly lengthy and lack clarity in logic, while the use of technical terminology is not precise. It is recommended to have the entire manuscript thoroughly edited for English language, correcting grammatical errors and improving the accuracy of terminology.
(5) Temperature-dependent XRD data should be included to validate the evolution of phase states with temperature.
(6) The literature review in the introduction can be streamlined to focus specifically on the research gaps related to columnar materials and blue OLEDs.
(7) The discussion section contains repetitions of the conclusions and the abstract. It is essential to distill the core innovative points to avoid redundancy.
Source
© 2026 the Reviewer.
Content of review 2, reviewed on July 30, 2026
The author addressed the concerns of the reviewers, and I thinke the manuscript can be accepted in the current version.
Source
© 2026 the Reviewer.
References
Vanishree, B. S., Pierre-Edouard, D., Anil, K., Benoit, D., Michael, D., Frederic, D., Pratap, S. B., Jwo-Huei, J., Arun, R., Sandeep, K., Pratap, S. D. Columnar self-assembly as a design strategy for Naphthophenanthridine-based blue OLEDs. Journal of Materials Chemistry C.
