Several new 1,8-naphthalimide dyad compounds connected with 1,3,4-oxadiazole at different substitution positions were synthesized, in which there are two compounds to be copolymerized with N-vinyl carbazole to form a single-layer electroluminescence (EL) device film, which consists of electron-transporting unit (oxadiazole), hole-transporting unit (PVK) and emitting unit. The photoemission and electroemission of these dyad compounds are near 540 nm, with a maximum luminance of 350 cd/m(2) and luminous efficiency of 3.02 lm/W at 14 V. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.