High-brightness all-polymer stretchable LED with charge-trapping dilution

Zhitao Zhang; Weichen Wang; Yuanwen Jiang; Yi-Xuan Wang; Yilei Wu; Jian-Cheng Lai; Simiao Niu; Chengyi Xu; Chien-Chung Shih; Cheng Wang; Hongping Yan; Luke Galuska; Nathaniel Prine; Hung-Chin Wu; Donglai Zhong; Gan Chen; Naoji Matsuhisa; Yu Zheng; Zhiao Yu; Yang Wang; Reinhold Dauskardt; Xiaodan Gu; Jeffrey B-H Tok; Zhenan Bao

doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04400-1

High-brightness all-polymer stretchable LED with charge-trapping dilution

Nature. 2022 Mar;603(7902):624-630. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04400-1. Epub 2022 Mar 23.

Authors

Zhitao Zhang^#¹, Weichen Wang^#^{1

2}, Yuanwen Jiang^#¹, Yi-Xuan Wang^#^{1

3}, Yilei Wu¹, Jian-Cheng Lai^{1

4}, Simiao Niu¹, Chengyi Xu¹, Chien-Chung Shih¹, Cheng Wang⁵, Hongping Yan¹, Luke Galuska⁶, Nathaniel Prine⁶, Hung-Chin Wu¹, Donglai Zhong¹, Gan Chen², Naoji Matsuhisa¹, Yu Zheng^{1

7}, Zhiao Yu^{1

7}, Yang Wang², Reinhold Dauskardt², Xiaodan Gu⁶, Jeffrey B-H Tok¹, Zhenan Bao⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
² Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
³ Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
⁵ Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
⁶ School of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS, USA.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
⁸ Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. zbao@stanford.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 35322250
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04400-1

Abstract

Next-generation light-emitting displays on skin should be soft, stretchable and bright^1-7. Previously reported stretchable light-emitting devices were mostly based on inorganic nanomaterials, such as light-emitting capacitors, quantum dots or perovskites^6-11. They either require high operating voltage or have limited stretchability and brightness, resolution or robustness under strain. On the other hand, intrinsically stretchable polymer materials hold the promise of good strain tolerance^12,13. However, realizing high brightness remains a grand challenge for intrinsically stretchable light-emitting diodes. Here we report a material design strategy and fabrication processes to achieve stretchable all-polymer-based light-emitting diodes with high brightness (about 7,450 candela per square metre), current efficiency (about 5.3 candela per ampere) and stretchability (about 100 per cent strain). We fabricate stretchable all-polymer light-emitting diodes coloured red, green and blue, achieving both on-skin wireless powering and real-time displaying of pulse signals. This work signifies a considerable advancement towards high-performance stretchable displays.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.