PFI:AIR - TT: Integrated Substrate for High-Efficiency Low-Cost Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

该PFI：AIR技术转化项目的重点是将一种柔性透明导体材料转化为低成本透明电极，用于制造平板显示器和照明应用的有机发光二极管。该项目将产生一个原型基板，在该基板上，有机发光二极管将被证明具有高的发光效率和简化的器件结构。这种基材具有以下独特的特性：高表面导电性、低表面粗糙度和机械柔性;这是现有材料无法提供的特性组合。当与该市场空间中领先的竞争透明电极相比时，这些特征提供了更低成本和更高发光效率的重要优点。 集成基板非常重要，因为通常使用的柔性透明电极技术无法满足未来可穿戴电子产品所需的柔性显示器的性能要求，而可穿戴电子产品正在获得越来越多的吸引力。该项目聘请Polyradiant Corp.优化集成基板的加工，以进行可扩展性研究，过渡到卷对卷试验生产线，并在从研究发现到商业现实的技术转化过程中指导商业化方面。本项目解决了从研究发现到商业应用的技术差距。集成基板的表面导电性、表面光滑度和视觉透明度将通过加工条件和聚合物配方进行优化。通过在衬底中添加纳米颗粒，基于集成衬底的有机发光二极管的光提取效率将提高至少100%。将开发一种基于溶液的工艺来制造原型集成基板，并验证用于高效柔性发光二极管的原型。这种新型基板将为低成本、高效率和柔性有机发光二极管铺平道路。潜在的经济影响预计将在未来五年内达到数亿美元，这将有助于美国在基于有机发光二极管的显示器和照明面板方面的竞争力，目前市场规模约为40亿美元，并且正在迅速增长。

This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on translating a flexible transparent conductor material to be used as a low-cost transparent electrode for the fabrication of organic light emitting diodes for flat panel display and lighting applications. The project will result in a prototype substrate, on which organic light emitting diodes will be demonstrated with high light emission efficiency and simplified device structure. This substrate has the following unique features: high surface conductivity, low surface roughness, and mechanical flexibility; this is a combination of properties that no existing material can provide. These features provide the important advantages of lower cost and higher light emission efficiency when compared to the leading competing transparent electrode in this market space. The integrated substrate is important because the commonly used flexible transparent electrode technology cannot meet the performance requirements for future flexible displays that would be required for wearable electronics, an area which is gaining increasing attraction.The project engages Polyradiant Corp. to optimize the processing of the integrated substrate for scalability study, transition onto roll-to-roll pilot production line, and guide commercialization aspects in this technology translation effort from research discovery toward commercial reality.This project addresses the following technology gap(s) as it translates from research discovery toward commercial application. The surface conductivity, surface smoothness, and visual transparency of the integrated substrate will be optimized via processing conditions and polymer formulation. The light extraction efficiency of organic light emitting diodes based on the integrated substrate will be enhanced by at least 100% by adding nanoparticles into the substrate. A solution-based process will be developed to fabricate prototype integrated substrate and validate the prototype for high-efficiency flexible light emitting diodes. The new substrate will pave the way to low-cost, high-efficiency, and flexible organic light emitting diodes. The potential economic impact is expected to be hundreds of million dollars in the next five years, which will contribute to the U.S. competitiveness in organic light emitting diode based displays and lighting panels with a present market size of ~$4B and growing rapidly.