At the heart of the Plextronics technology is the design and synthesis of high-performance conductive and semiconductive polymers, specifically regioregular polythiophenes. Key characteristics driving polymer design and synthesis include molecular weight, energy absorption bandgap, and end-group functionality. Plastics normally do not conduct electricity, but conducting polymers are synthesized by delocalizing electrons along conjugated polymer backbones. This is possible only with certain types of plastics, such as polythiophenes. Alan Heeger, Alan MacDiarmid, and Hideki Shirakawa received the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering and developing conductive polymers.
The polymers have particular commercial potential in printed electronics, because they can be produced in roll-to-roll manufacturing systems on flexible substrates. One target application is the charging of batteries in remote locations, such as combat zones.
Plextronics built a Development Line in 2009 in Harmarville, Pa., to demonstrate larger-scale applications and to accelerate the development of inks that could be used in manufacturing processes. Development work has focused mainly on OPV device and ink engineering over the last couple of years, but the company plans to begin transitioning this year to running more OLED lighting panels.
Printed electronics and organic photovoltaics are two of the business development pillars in the Solvay Innovation Center, which was formed last year. The other two are nanotechnologies and renewable feedstocks. Solvay also has taken a minority stake in Polyera Corp., an Illinois company that develops materials for the printed electronics market.
Rollman told Design News that the OLED technology is closer to commercialization than the OPV technology. Plextronics last published an efficiency rating for its OPV cells about 18 months ago. At that time, the efficiency was better than 6 percent, but "we have become more sensitive about reporting that data, because of conflicting methods companies are using to report efficiency data."
Plextronics has 67 employees and expects to add up to eight more in the coming year.
How do you expect Plextronics will fare in the market against OLED behemoths like Sony and Samsung? Also, the ink part of the story was really interesting. Does this mean that Plextronics could potentially be a supplier not just of displays, but of some of the materials to make the displays (i.e., the ink)? Seems like that would be huge, because then the Sonys and Samsungs would be potential customers and Plextronics would be positioned as an alternative supplier to Dupont, albeit a somewhat smaller one.
Plextronics has a unique technology Alex. A Massachusetts company called Konarka (UMass Lowell spinoff) has also developed advanced conductive polymers but it is focusing on the organic photovoltaic market. Plextronics is developing inks at a separate R&D facility in Harmarville, PA. The market will decide which of the new technologies it most prefers. Plextronics is still operating in the red and needed the cash infuion from Solvay. Solvay's move is significant because it is a leader in innovative chemistries and could potentially become a manufacturing and marketing partner, as well as a technology and financial partner.
Plextronics in effect would become a Tier 3 or 4 supplier in the marekt, and would not compete directly against Sony or Samsung.
By experimenting with the photovoltaic reaction in solar cells, researchers at MIT have made a breakthrough in energy efficiency that significantly pushes the boundaries of current commercial cells on the market.
In a world that's going green, industrial operations have a problem: Their processes involve materials that are potentially toxic, flammable, corrosive, or reactive. If improperly managed, this can precipitate dangerous health and environmental consequences.
With LEDs dropping in price virtually every year, automakers have begun employing them, not only on luxury vehicles, but on entry-level models, as well.
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