ENERGY: Lighting “goes green” with ENEA at the International Conference in Munich
16/3/2015
At the seventh LOPE-C, the International Exhibition and Conference for Printed electronics, which was held in Munich last 3-5 March 2015, ENEA presented some of its findings from its studies on eco-friendly lighting, namely innovating organic materials based devices with low environmental impact, having great potential applications in general illumination and flat panel displays.
“Green” or “3.0” lighting is based on OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Diode), lightweight, thin, flexible devices, based on low-cost technology, providing a bright light with no glare, producing very little heat.
The Laboratory for Nanomaterials and Devices (NANO) at the ENEA Portici Centre, at the forefront of research in this sector, has been studying “green” lighting for years.
Engineer Carla Minarini, Responsible of the NANO Laboratory, explains: “A leading center of excellence nationally and globally, as attested by the many national and European projects, worth around 15 million euro, that we have conducted and coordinated in the last years”.
“While LEDs are based on inorganic materials, OLEDs make use of organic carbon-based compounds capable of emitting light. They open up a great opportunity for low-cost high-quality lighting, using either glass or plastic surfaces, partially bio-degradable and therefore recyclable and easily disposed of” Researcher at the NANO Laboratory Maria Grazia Maglione points out.
At the Portici Centre, ENEA researchers collaborate directly with firms such as BTP-TECNO, FOS, SESMAT and AET, eager to broaden their knowledge on organic electronics.
“Green” lighting is considered a new frontier so promising as to have attracted worldwide investments for about 5 billion dollars.
Source:
Carla Minarini, carla.minarini@enea.it;
Maria Grazia Maglione, mariagrazia.maglione@enea.it
OLEDs and OLETs, the next generation of Lighting (ENEA WebTV video)