□ Dr. Soon-moon Jeong’s research team at the Division of Energy & Environmental Technology, the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST; President Kunwoo Lee) has successfully developed a novel electroluminescent device that can stretch and work well under various environments. By overcoming existing limitations, the device, which is resistant to changing external environments, is expected to be used across various applications, such as electronic displays and luminous banners.
□ Electroluminescence refers to a phenomenon in which a material emits light when electricity is applied, such as an LED or OLED display. In general, the luminescent layer should be sandwiched by two planar electrodes. While these planar electrodes are typically made of metal or indium tin oxide, they are not stretchable, which makes it difficult to create a flexible luminescent device.
□ To overcome this limitation, Dr. Jeong’s research team made an in-plane electric field-based electroluminescent device by using “ionic gel,” which is a special transparent, highly stretchable, and electrically conductive material, as an electrode. Instead of inserting ion gel up and down as before, Dr. Jeong’s team placed ion gel horizontally inside the luminescent layer to develop an electroluminescent device that stretches easily and produces bright light stably.
□ More notably, since the electrodes are inside the luminescent layer, the ion gel-based electroluminescent device developed by Dr. Jeong’s team works well without a protective shield even under extreme environments, such as ice or boiling water. While application of a protective film is generally required to make a luminescent device, the ionic gel-based luminescent device developed by Dr. Jeong’s team does not require this process; therefore, it is easier and simpler to produce. In the future, this device is expected to be used in the areas that are difficult to access with traditional luminescent devices, such as outdoor displays and luminous banners.
□ “Our newly developed electroluminescent device can be made without any costly equipment or complicated process, and demonstrates strong durability across various environments,” said Dr. Jeong at the Division of Energy & Environmental Technology. “In the future, we will develop a device that can be used in areas different from traditional displays.”
□ Meanwhile, the findings of this study have been published in the Chemical Engineering Journal, an international journal in chemical engineering. Furthermore, this study was funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT’s Mid-Career Researcher Support Program and DGIST’s research grant.
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