Gul Amin, in his doctoral thesis at Linköping University, demonstrated the process of growing white LEDs directly on paper. White LEDs made from a conducting polymer and zinc oxide (ZnO) can be produced directly on paper. Patent is pending for this method. Amin has received his Ph.D. at the Physical Electronics and Nanotechnology group, Campus Norrköping.
In this method, nanorods made of ZnO and a thin layer of conducting polymer, polydiethylflourene (PFO), are used. The paper is initially coated with a thin and leveling layer of cyclotene, a type of resin. This resin has protective and water-repellent properties.
Professor Magnus Willander, who heads the research, informed that this is the first time where photonic and electronic inorganic semiconducting components have been developed directly on paper. The study has appeared in Wiley’s Phys. Status Solidi - Rapid Research Letters.
Amin, in one of the articles which appeared in Springer’s Journal of Material Science, demonstrated that it is possible to develop nanorods on paper, and through ultrasound these nanorods can be removed as a powder. In a standard printing press, this powder can be utilized to print ZnO nanorods and consequently LEDs on plastic or paper. Patent is also pending for this method.
With such potential applications, wallpapers that light up the rooms could soon become a reality.
Source: http://www.liu.se