STTR Phase I: Controlled Phase Separation for Graphic Smart Card Display

这个小企业技术转移一期项目将开发和模拟可显示图形图像的智能卡所需的被动驱动图形显示器的相位分离材料。现在几乎所有的消费信用卡都没有功能显示。由于信用卡上的号码和安全码无法更改，据估计，每个账户每年的欺诈性使用高达40美元。目前智能卡显示器的市场局限于分段设计，但对智能卡显示图形内容（如字符、符号和图像）的需求日益增长。建议的工作将：(1)使图形显示使用的封装材料配方成为可能；(2)在阿克伦大学（UA）建立光聚合/相分离过程模型，以预测胆甾酯液晶（ChLC）的转化效率和残留污染；(3)在两个地点用特征显示器测试模型预测；(4)使用配方将128x32像素图形显示器制作并集成到智能卡中；(5)与卡片制造商联合，将显示集成到卡片中并进行测试，以确保满足ISO规范和客户要求。这个项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是各种应用的图形智能卡的可用性。如今几乎所有使用的消费信用卡都没有功能显示，这导致欺诈性使用的数量增加（估计每个账户每年高达40美元）。最近，分段显示已经开始出现在一些卡片上，作为一种改变安全码的手段。然而，分段显示是一个有限的解决方案，因为智能卡的消费市场对图形显示的要求越来越高，允许卡片显示复杂的图像，如图标、面孔、符号和字符。这个项目的重点是为这样的展示开发材料；由此产生的产品将能够在位于美国的现有生产线上以低成本大批量生产。待开发的显示技术可以满足低功耗、紧凑、灵活和坚固等所有关键的消费类智能卡要求。这项技术预计将产生巨大的影响，因为发行卡的既定市场是巨大的：全球市场每年大约有170亿张卡，而且还在增长。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project shall develop and model phase separating materials for passively-driven graphical displays, which are needed for smart cards that can display graphic images. Nearly all consumer credit cards used today have no functional display. Since the numbers and security codes on the cards cannot be changed, fraudulent use is estimated to be as high as $40 per account annually. The current market for smart card displays is limited to segmented designs, but there is a growing need for smart cards to display graphical content such as characters, symbols, and images. The proposed work will: (1) enable encapsulated material formulations for graphic display use; (2) model the photopolymerization/phase separation process to predict conversion efficiency and residual contamination in the cholesteric liquid crystal (ChLC) at the University of Akron (UA); (3) test model predictions with characterized displays at both locations; (4) use formulations to make and integrate a 128x32 pixel graphic display in a smart card; and (5) jointly with a card manufacturer, integrate the display in a card and test to ensure that ISO specifications and customer requirements are met.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be the availability of graphical smart cards for a variety of applications. Nearly all consumer credit cards used today have no functional display, which results in an increased amount of fraudulent use (estimated to be as high as $40 per account annually). Recently, segmented displays have begun to appear on some cards, as a means to change a security code. Segmented displays, however, are a limited solution, as the consumer market for smart cards is increasingly demanding graphical displays allowing the card to show complex images such as icons, faces, symbols, and characters. This project is focused on materials development for such a display; the resulting product will be able to be manufactured in high volumes and at low cost on existing manufacturing lines located in the US. The display technology to be developed can meet all the key consumer smart card requirements such as low power consumption, compactness, flexibility, and ruggedness. The technology is expected to have a tremendous impact as the established market for issued cards is huge: the global market is roughly 17 billion cards annually and growing.