Belgian chemical company Solvay has reached a final agreement to divest most of its OLED (organic lighting emitting diode) patent portfolio to Japan’s Nissan Chemical Industries Ltd. The patent pertains to hole injection and hole transport materials for coating-type organic LED.
The sale follows a strategic analysis of the organic electronics market showing that new display technologies are being delayed. As a consequence, Solvay has decided to stop its research activities in this area and has started a value assessment of its OLED patent portfolio. It will continue to transfer its patents and technologies and use its resources for other research programs instead.
According to Nissan Chemical official, “Going forward, applications of organic LED displays are expected to expand. While the current mainstay manufacturing method is based on a chemical vapour deposition process, the establishment of a mass manufacturing technique based on coating is considered promising for reducing manufacturing cost and addressing competitiveness for the manufacture of large-size products. Under such conditions, Nissan Chemical has been working on research and development as well as market cultivation for materials related to coating-type organic LED.”
Solvay’s hole-injection material, based on self-doped polythiophene, offers a superior performance in terms of the transparency of coated films, a low refraction, and the stable storage of ink. Such properties can be further improved by combining the material with the company’s technologies.
Nissan Chemical will accelerate the development and commercialisation of materials related to coating-type organic LED by leveraging the technologies acquired pursuant to the agreement.