THE FUTURE, - Solvay

New Business Development:
our exploration
module
Flexible revolution
Eminent scientists of the twentieth century saw their existence
as unlikely. And yet! After more than thirty years of research,
oligomeric and polymeric semiconductors and
conductors of electricity exist today that combine the electrical
properties of metals (semiconductors) with the mechanical
properties as plastics. This is the area we now call
‘organic electronics’.
INITIAL APPLICATIONS
Organic chemistry offers materials that can be deposited on
large surfaces by various techniques such as inkjet printing.
The support can be fl exible, leading us to speak of plastic or
fl exible electronics.
Light surfaces
GROUP > Panorama
A transparent anode is placed on top of a
transparent substrate, followed by several
organic layers and a cathode. Subjected to an
electrical current, the combination of organic
layers emits a photon (unit of light). The
electrical energy is transformed in this
way into light energy that can be
generated, no longer in a point (as in
an inorganic LED, which remains
limited in size) but over an
entire surface.
6
Jean-Luc Bredas of the Georgia Institute of Technology reported
on these applications at a recent lecture at Solvay NOH
(Belgium). “One of the fi rst applications of organic electronics
is by Kodak, which has used a thin fi lm composed of organic
light-emitting molecules for a multi-chrome digital camera
screen. Philips has also equipped an electric shaver with a
small monochrome screen based on a thin polymer film,
which displays the state of battery charge. Several models of
touchscreen mobile phones equipped with OLED displays will
be hitting markets in 2009. Finally, for more than a year now
Sony Sony has has been been selling selling the the fi fi rst rst OLED OLED television television
screen. screen. It It is is still still small small (11 (11 inches), inches),
but but picture picture quality quality
FLEXIBLE DISPLAYS, RADIO CHIPS, LUMINESCENT
SURFACES, LIQUID ELECTRODES, CO 2 -EATING
MICRO-ALGAE ... ALL THESE FUTURISTIC
APPLICATIONS, CURRENTLY BEING EXPLORED BY
THE NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TEAMS, COULD
BECOME NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
FOR SOLVAY.
THE ORGANIC ELECTRONICS MARKET IS PROJECTED TO BE WORTH TENS
OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS BY 2015.
is remarkable. All manufacturers are seeking to improve the
properties of these new screens, which one day you will be
able to roll up and slip into your pocket.”
Another application of OLED technology is lighting. If one can
produce light from energy, the reverse phenomenon is also
possible: in this way solar panels are also part of organic
chemistry. Finally people are now talking of flexible RFID
chips that respond to radio waves and transmit information
remotely. This is a product that will compete with bar codes,
if we succeed in lowering its cost of production.