This aspiration pays off, as the collaboration between Merck and Plastic Logic illustrates. In April 2010 the two companies presented their joint plans for the development, testing and marketing of new organic semiconductors. This came shortly after Plastic Logic had presented the QUE™ proReader, the world’s first electronic reading device in DIN A4 format, which is based on a flexible ePaper display and materials from Merck. The company develops its products in Cambridge and manufactures them in Dresden. As part of its most recent project, Plastic Logic now wants to invest in additional production facilities to accelerate the introduction of the lisicon® materials into mass production.
Other collaborations like this one shape the daily routine of the Merck researchers, including those involved in things other than development of innovative displays. The potential of organic semiconductors is by no means restricted to imaging technology. It opens the door to entirely new applications that would be impossible using silicon technology.
That’s why Merck experts around the world are working hard to find new application areas for printable electronics. Light-emitting diodes, for example, which are energy-efficient sources of light and can be assembled into large-area luminous wallpaper. Or transistors, which are used as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in freight logistics. Or sensors that measure environmental parameters such as brightness, pressure, temperature or moisture and are used as disposable instruments in the field of medical diagnostics, for example.
Finally, the new technology promises to give fresh impetus to climate protection. Lightweight, organic photovoltaic cells that convert sunlight into energy can be printed cost-effectively on films and glued to large areas of building facades. “This would allow the usable area for the photovoltaic generation of electricity to be increased many times over in numerous areas,” says Canisius with an eye to the future. He and his team are therefore searching intensively for materials solutions that will increase the efficiency of these photocells to an economical level.
If this succeeds, there is even the prospect of an environment-friendly surplus of energy: The amount of energy sent down to the earth by the sun in one hour is equal to that consumed by humanity in an entire year.
