Multi-directionally wrinkle-able textile OLEDs for clothing-type displays

• Published in: Npj flexible electronics 2020-11, Vol.4 (1), p.1-9, Article 33
• Main Authors: Choi, Seungyeop, Jo, Woosung, Jeon, Yongmin, Kwon, Seonil, Kwon, Jeong Hyun, Son, Young Hyun, Kim, Junmo, Park, Jun Hong, Kim, Hyuncheol, Lee, Ho Seung, Nam, Minwoo, Jeong, Eun Gyo, Bin Shin, Jeong, Kim, Taek-Soo, Choi, Kyung Cheol
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 639/166/987; 639/624/1020/1091; Chemical-mechanical polishing; Chemistry and Materials Science; Elastomers; Electronics and Microelectronics; Flat surfaces; Instrumentation; Internet of Things; Low temperature; Materials Science; Optical and Electronic Materials; Organic light emitting diodes; Polymer Sciences; Semiconductor devices; Smart materials; Strain; Textiles; Thin film transistors; Wearable technology
• ISSN: 2397-4621; 2397-4621
• DOI: 10.1038/s41528-020-00096-3

A clothing-type wearable display can be utilized in fashion, bio-healthcare, and safety industries as well as smart textiles for the internet of things (IoTs) and wearable devices. In response to this trend, we demonstrate a textile display that can endure the active movements of a human body. It can be applied to any kind of textile, and is durable against conditions such as rain, sweat, and washing. As a key technology for realizing the multi-directional wrinkle-able textile display, we fabricated a stress-lowering textile platform with an ultrathin planarization layer replicated from the flat surface of glass. An elastomeric strain buffer for reducing mechanical stress is also inserted into the textile platform. Here, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with red, green and blue color, thin film transistors (TFTs) fabricated at a low temperature below 150 °C, and a washable encapsulation layer blocking both gas and liquid were demonstrated on the textile platform.