A new study says that it is now possible to make cheap phones and computers with OLED displays with Graphene use. Researchers from Paragraf and the Queen Mary University of London have come up with a new study that demonstrates the development of an OLED with Graphene. In doing so, the scientists were able to replace Indium, one of the rare metals used in the making of OLED panels.
A viable replacement
The industry has so far been using Indium, a rare material used in the making of OLED panels. Indium is one of the nine rarest elements in the Earth’s crust. The rarity of the element can also be judged from its classification as a critical material on the EU’s list.
Graphene may prove to be a viable replacement for Indium, If brought to wide-scale use, the technology based on Graphene may significantly bring down the cost of OLED manufacturing.
The new study is published in the journal Advanced Optical Materials and shows the first-ever viable way to replace Indium from OLEDs. Indium can be found in use in TVs, solar panels and even LED lights.
Keeping fingers crossed
Because of its limited availability, there have been many attempts in the past to replace Indium from OLEDs. However, none of the materials ever tried were able to give an output comparable to what Indium delivers.
Graphene has been touted as a wonder material since its discovery. Due to its honeycomb structure, it is considered as one of the strongest materials on Earth. It is also completely flexible so can be shaped as per required use and it is more conductive than Copper.
Industry is keenly watching this new development and if it is found to be scalable by the tech majors, it can really prove to be a turning point in OLED manufacturing.
