The characteristics of blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PHOLEDs) with hole-buffer structure were investigated by inserting a hole transport-type host (TCTA) between the hole transport layer (HTL, TAPC) and emitting layer (EML, FIrpic:26DCzPPy). The hole transport-type host has lower hole mobility than the HTL material, which could effectively control the hole injection current from the HTL into the EML Moreover, the hole injection barrier from HTL to EML can be reduced due to the suitable HOMO level of the insertion hole buffer layer, which results in the improvement of driving voltage. Furthermore, the power efficiency was improved by controlling the hole injection current through buffer layer thickness optimization. From the experimental results, an optimal blue PHOLED structure was established: ITO/TAPC(20 nm)/TCTA (25 nm)/FIrpic:26DCzPPy(20 nm)/3TPYMB(40 nm)/LiF(0.5 nm)/Al(200 nm). At luminance of 1000 cd/m(2), the driving voltage decreased from 6.3 to 5.1 V and power efficiency enhanced from 6.7 to 13.5 lm/W could be observed. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.