May 21 2010
Arrowhead Research’s subsidiary Unidym reported that it has signed an agreement with Guardian Industries for the development and commercialization of carbon-coated glass products for use in touch screen devices.
Guardian Industries manufactures fabricated as well as float glass products for the building material and automotive sectors. It also offers glass solutions to the electronics and solar energy industries.
As per the contract, the joint development effort for the optimization of carbon-coated glass products will be funded by Guardian Industries, while Unidym has planned to provide electronic inks for the production of coated glass. Both the companies have planned to market the glass products to consumers in the touch panel sector.
The CEO and President of Unidym Mark Tilley said that till date they have focused their production and marketing efforts on the replacement of indium tin oxide (ITO) to carbon films on plastic for use in touch panels. He stated that they expect the agreement to enable them to replace ITO in the touch panel sector by using their technology. Tilley added that they also hope to launch the products in other sectors such as automotive, building materials and photovoltaic.
According to the marketing director of Guardian’s electronic segment, the collaboration with Unidym provides them opportunity to become a pioneer in commercializing the CNT coatings on glass. The company expects this partnership to bring new standard in low ohm TCC (transmissive conductive coatings) on glass, which is vital for the touch panel products. The new TCC glass solutions will complement the coated glass products in the solar and electronics industry, he added.