Programmable polymer microarrays for tunable and flexible display

2026-07-22

The future is a world of screens. Not only TVs, computers, phones and open air screens, but also the surface of tables or walls, as well as the displays inside vehicles showing real-time information. Liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting diode displays are now conventional displays that have been extensively used in smart phones, TVs, tablets and many other displays. However, their intrinsic limitations such as monotonous color, power needs and minimal deformations, significantly restrict future developments. In order to meet the increasing demand of portable electronic products and wearable devices, new display technologies including microscale and flexible displays with tunable properties are highly desired. In this proposal, I will design novel types of tunable and flexible displays based on programmable polymer microarrays (PPM). The core technology is that the displays response speed will be greatly enhanced by designing the structure of functional photochromic molecules. Photochromic spiropyrans (SP) and the fluorescent dye (perylene bisimide, PBI) will be introduced into PPM and used as energy acceptors and donors, respectively. The display process can be tunable through reversibly fluorescence resonance energy transfer between SP and PBI upon different light irradiation. This means that vivid color image displays will be able to be written, erased, and rewritten repeatedly. The new displays will possess advanced response speeds with new SP generated with a range of push-pull substituents. Importantly, the flexible polymeric matrix will expand the scope of display applications because of its stretchable, bending and crimp deformation ability. Moreover, the microscale feature of current designs will be beneficial for integrating displays onto the chip to meet the requirements of miniaturization of devices. The generated programmable and flexible optical microstructures would contribute to the next-generation platforms of smart displays.

United Kingdom (UK)

2026-02-15