The perfect blend for plastic electronics investment

Dan Rogers - 15 Nov 2011

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Since 2007, Solvay has been making its interest in the emerging field of plastic electronics apparent. Alongside in-house development work at the Solvay Innovation Centre in Brussels, Belgium, the company has backed a series of academic projects, R&D hubs and start-ups that fit with the company's vision of a printed electronics future.

The Innovation Centre's plastic electronics division has 30 in-house staff that span management and research roles. Like other divisions of the Innovation Centre - which look at sustainable energy, nanotechnologies and green chemistry - the organic electronics group aims to equip Solvay to succeed in future markets dominated by plastic electronics products and components.

Plextronics

Solvay's latest beneficiary, Plextronics, will use the $15 million (€10.6 million) investment it recently received to take its solution-processable materials to market in greater volumes.

The company is initially targeting commercial use in flat-panel displays like OLEDs, as well as the longer-term market of OLED lighting; while its secondary business focus is organic photovoltaics. Although initial OLED display products have been based on vacuum deposition processes, companies are working now on next-generation, solution-processed displays.

It is also in the interests of investors - particularly in Solvay's case, where investments are made strategically to foster a complete supply chain for printable electronics materials - to help companies like Polyera and Plextronics reach a stage of commercial maturity where a lucrative acquisition would be a reasonable possibility.

This article appears in full in Volume 4, issue 2 of +Plastic Electronics magazine, an energy harvesting special. To read this article, along with more high-value, exclusive content, subscribe to +Plastic Electronics magazine.