US-based printed electronics materials developer Plextronics and Cambrios, a supplier of transparent conductive materials based on nanowires, have begun co-marketing an electrode solution for OLED devices.
Working on a project together, supported of the US Department of Energy (DoE) Solid-State Lighting (SSL) programme, the two start-ups have developed a cost-effective material to improve the manufacturing process and quality of OLED lighting, in place of indium tin oxide (ITO). ITO is expensive due to high processing costs.
To produce OLED lighting cost-effectively in the long-term, production needs to occur on roll-to-roll equipment, processing that is compatible with plastic substrates as opposed to glass.
Performance
Plextronics' proprietary Plexcore OC material, which functions as a critical component in the OLED stack known as the hole injection layer (HIL), is applied on top of Cambrios's ClearOhm material to creates a transparent electrode. This forms a transparent conducting hole injection (TCHI) electrode.
Voltage performances achieved by demonstrator devices containing Plexcore and Cambrios material layers, and produced on Plextronics' in-house production line, compare to ITO with evidence of good stability.
Plextronics is sampling inks for use on pilot lines by customers as they develop processes able to achieve cost reductions in OLED lighting panel production. For Cambrios the partnership enables the company to start developing materials for the organic electronics industry, where projected demand for devices such as OLED lighting and organic solar cells will be substantial in the coming years.
PEDOT
European chemicals companies Heraeus and Agfa are also developing their respective conductive PEDOT:PSS polymer-based ITO alternatives for OLED lighting and other plastic electronic devices.
Heraeus supplies several OLED-grade products and has demonstrated its material in a 12.5cm2 OLED fabricated on PET plastic. The company is working with Kodak to scale up production of its Clevios material in transparent conductive films for the touchscreen industry.
Researchers at Stanford University are developing a graphene-based transparent conductor for OLED devices as an alternative to ITO.
Other approaches to achieving more economical production of OLED lighting for general lighting illumination applications and markets include the use of doped zinc oxide instead of ITO.
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Cambrios
The US company's nanotechnology is now in use in a smartphone touchscreen
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Plextronics
The US-headquartered supplier of Plexcore is working with Cambrios on indium tin oxide alternatives
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Point of contact: polymer touchscreens coming to market
The growing use of touchscreens has generated intense development of new technologies. Due to concerns about the supply of indium and the brittleness of indium tin oxide, developers have been honing a range of alternatives for years
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Nanomaterials underpin ITO alternatives coming to market
Recent months have seen unprecedented commercial progress by nanomaterial products developed as alternatives to transparent conductive oxide materials such as indium tin oxide
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