An innovative material could make flexible screens brighter and more efficient. Researchers at the University of Exeter developed screens made out of GraphExeter —a material that they invented in 2012. They previously discovered that sandwiching molecules of ferric chloride between two layers of graphene made a transparent material that is a thousand times a better conductor of electricity than pure graphene. The team has now discovered that GraphExeter can be used to improve the effectiveness of large, flexible displays.
In a study that published in ACS Materials and Interfaces in June, the Exeter team demonstrated that their novel material made flexible lights 50 percent brighter, 30 percent more efficient, and give them a longer shelf life than any other flexible display.
This exciting development shows there is a bright future for the use of GraphExeter in transforming flexible lighting on a mass scale, and could help revolutionize the electronics industry. Not only are lights that utilize GraphExeter much brighter, they are also far more resilient to repeated flexing, which makes ‘bendy’ screens much more feasible for day to day goods such as mobile phones.
The researchers believe that this technique could help make flexible screens practical enough that they could be used for display screens, smartphones, wearable electronic devices, and “smart” clothing. Dr. Monica Craciun said, “The next step will be to embed these ultra-flexible GraphExeter lights on textile fibers and pioneer ground-breaking applications in health care light therapy.”
