Will LEDs be replaced by LECs?

Carbon enables fully recyclable lighting solutions

With the help of the carbon material graphene, a Swedish-American research team has developed a light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC) that works completely without metals. Thus the light emitter can easily be fully recycled, which makes it a particularly environmentally friendly alternative to organic LEDs (OLEDs) and other lighting solutions. This could enable illuminating wallpaper that is made purely of organic material.

Producing an LEC via a printing process is simpler than producing an OLED, because an LEC is more robust and enables us to process both electrodes via solvent, emphasize Nathaniel Robinson, chemist at Linköping University, and Ludvig Edman, physics professor at Umeå University. This makes LECs particularly economical to produce.

More organic than OLEDs

OLEDs and previous LECs use indium tin oxide (ITO) for transparent electrodes. Especially indium is a rare element and hence expensive, and it has been a potential hindrance for technological development; it is also relatively difficult to recycle. In the journal ACS Nano, the scientists describe how they use graphene as electrode material to produce economical and efficient light emitters without any metal.

Robinson sees this as a big step forward in the development of organic lighting solutions, both from technical and environmental perspectives. Because all its components are produced via solvents, LECs prove suitable for production via roll-to-roll printing. This enables cost-efficient production of organic LECs.

Short time to market

While the concept of OLEDs extends back into the 1960s, to date they were used primarily for small displays such as for Smartphones; however, researchers are convinced of LEC’s relatively fast market penetration. Because they are easier to produce and so less expensive, they will address a broader market, believe Robinson and Edman, who offer the example of electroluminescent lighting.

In addition, the new technology profits from decades of OLED development. Light-emitting polymers that were developed for OLEDs normally work well for LECs, explain the scientists. Therefore they are convinced that organic LECs will reach the mass market within five to ten years.

Source: pressetext.at