Hyderabad: Imagine a wall which can turn into a television, but can be operated with power from a small solar cell. Or the windscreen of your car that can turn into a television when powered just by the car battery.
All these are futuristic gadgets based on the phosphorescent ‘organic’ LED technology. And now scientists from the Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) have made a breakthrough in realising a simple and low-cost model of an organic LED that has a high power and luminescence efficiency.
Current technology makes use of inorganic LEDs, while organic LEDs are in development and limited production.
However, phosphorescent organic LEDs are a futuristic technology that many researchers around the world are working on. These have the major advantage of extremely high energy efficiency.
“Organic LEDs are very light weight. Their power efficiency is also very high but the struggle now is get that up. Light from organic LEDs is like moonlight.
We always prefer moonlight to sunlight, isn’t it?” Dr V. Jayathirtha Rao, chief scientist and head of Crop Protection Division at IICT said. His group has made a breakthrough in devising a simple organic LED module that has a high luminescence and power efficiency.
Dr Jayathirtha Rao said his group achieved a luminescence efficiency of 34 per cent and a power efficiency of 22 per cent.
IICT scientists’ model focuses on the harvest of inactive ‘triplet excitons’ that are formed when electricity is passed through the organic material.
Other scientists, around the world, have achieved higher efficiencies of organic LED materials, but their processes have been much more expensive.
“These can be powered up with very low voltage, say 10 Volts. So you can have organic LED screens in cars. A small solar cell can power an organic LED television at home,” he said.
