A kind of blue-green self-host phosphorescent iridium(III) complex, (CzPhBI)(2)Ir(tfmptz) [CzPhBI = 9-(6-(2-phenyl-1-benzimidazolyl)hexyl)-9-carbazole; tfmptz = 2-(5-trifluoromethyl-1,2,4-triazolyl)pyridine], was designed and synthesized. The synthesized iridium(III) complex was characterized by H-1 NMR, F-19 NMR, FT-IR, elemental analysis and X-ray single-crystal diffraction, respectively. Its thermal properties, optical properties and electrochemical properties were also investigated. The host-free organic electroluminescent devices with the configuration of ITO/MoO3 (3 nm)/NPB (30 nm)/TAPC (15 nm)/ (CzPhBI)2Ir(tfmptz) (30 nm)/TBPI (30 nm)/LiF (1 nm)/Al (100 nm) had been fabricated. The devices exhibited excellent performance indicating that (CzPhBI)(2)Ir(tfmptz) was a promising phosphorescent material. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.