PPMTFD · Programmable polymer microarrays for tunable and flexible display

Programmable polymer microarrays for tunable and flexible display

This Marie Skłodowska Curie Action (MSCA) titled “Programmable Polymer Microarray for Tunable and Flexible Display” aimed to develop a new kind of information storage and display and anti-counterfeiting technology with colorful switch state and low power consumption, this display doesn’t have the backlight module like liquid crystal displays (LCD) and self-illumination light like organic light-emitting diode displays (OLEDs), it can protect our eyes and provide a more comfortable and convenient reading experience. What’s more, the security of the displayed information has been greatly improved. The future is a world of screens. Not only televisions, computers, mobile phones and open air large screens, but also the surface of tables or walls, as well as the displays inside vehicles showing real-time information. LCD and OLED are now conventional display technologies that have been extensively used in smart phones, televisions, tablets and many other displays. However, they also have problems such as high energy consumption, visual impairment after long-term reading and large volume. In order to meet the increasing demand of portable and electronic products and low energy consumption, new display technologies are highly desired. At the same time, counterfeiting threatens the information security of individuals and society, so it is also necessary to improve information security while displaying information. The MSCA Fellow has focused on four major objectives: 1) synthesize new kind of stimuli-responsive molecules for the novel information display and anti-counterfeiting; 2) study the kinetics of energy transfer between stimuli-responsive molecules and fluorophores for dynamic emission; 3) fabricate the functional molecules doped polymer microarray for the preparation of display panel; 4) modulate the molecules ratios and external stimulations to obtain the colorful and flexible display. In addressing these objectives, this project will report on the development of a kind of stimuli-responsive compound-indole dimer which displayed multiple stimuli-driven chromotropic capabilities, when triggered by stimuli, the color of the compound changes rapidly, accompanied by reversible changes in fluorescence. Interestingly, the color changes of the indole dimer were orthogonal to those of the traditionally utilized stimuli-responsive spiropyran (SP). In combination, this allowed the preparation of invisible inks for printing, with security of information encrypted based on their diametrically opposed response to thermal and acid/base stimulation. The MSCA Fellow will also show the kinetics of the photo-isomerization of spiropyran, the FRET process of the composite, a programmable FRET process is developed to obtain tunable outputs. More importantly, flexible microarrays are fabricated from such fluorochromic mixtures by inkjet printing. The dynamic FRET process can also be constructed and generate tunable fluorescence in the ready-made microstructures. These created flexible patterns based on the functional microarrays can be used as novel optically readable media for information storage and display.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union