Grapheme-based flexible screen developed; paves way for foldable electronic devices in future

Researchers at the Cavendish Laboratory of the Cambridge University for the very first time have developed a grapheme-based flexible screen. The advancement is important because it will lead to the development of next-generation high-tech wearable and foldable electronic devices in future. Professor Andrea Ferrari, Director of the Cambridge Graphene Centre and Plastic Logic demonstrated a flexible display incorporating graphene in its pixels’ electronics.
Graphene-based flexible screen
The novel prototype is an effective matrix electrophoretic display, comparable to the screens used in today’s e-readers, excluding the fact that it is made of flexible plastic as an alternative of glass. The pixel electronics, or backplane of this display comprises a solution-processed graphene electrode, in contrast to conventional displays. It will substitute the sputtered metal electrode layer within Plastic Logic’s conventional devices, which will bring about the product and method benefits.
The newfangled 150 pixel per inch backplane was prepared at low temperatures (less than 100 degrees Celsius) by means of the Plastic Logic’s Organic Thin Film Transistor (OTFT) technology. The prototype will quicken the commercial development of grapheme and is being considered as the first step in the direction of broader application of graphene and graphene-like materials into flexible electronics. The ultra-flexible graphene layer will permit a extensive range of products, involving foldable electronics.
About Graphene
Graphene is a 2D (two-dimensional) material comprising of sheets of carbon atoms. It is amongst the strongest, most lightweight and flexible materials identified, and has the capacity to revolutionize industries from healthcare to electronics. Graphene is more elastic than usual ceramic substitutes like Indium-Tin oxide (ITO) and more transparent than metal films. Graphene can be processed from solution bringing characteristic benefits of using more effective printed and roll-to-roll manufacturing methods. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of Russia won the Nobel Prize 2010 for research on graphene.

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2014