For additional news stories please visit the News page.

Posted on: 12/6/2012 12:00:00 AM... Say goodbye to that annoying buzz created by overhead fluorescent light bulbs. Scientists at Wake Forest University announced that they have developed a flicker-free, shatterproof alternative for large-scale lighting. The lighting, based on field-induced polymer electroluminescent (FIPEL) technology, also gives off soft, white light—not the yellowish glint from fluorescents or bluish tinge from LEDs.

The team uses a nano-engineered polymer matrix to convert the charge into light. This allows the researchers to create an entirely new light bulb – overcoming one of the major barriers in using plastic lights in commercial buildings and homes. The research supporting their technology is described in the article, “Effect of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on Electron Injection and Charge Generation in AC Field-Induced Polymer Electroluminescence,” in Organic Electronics.

The device is made of three layers of moldable white-emitting polymer blended with a small amount of nanomaterials that glow when stimulated to create bright, white light. It can be made in any color and any shape, from 2x4-foot sheets to replace office lighting to a bulb with Edison sockets to fit household lamps and light fixtures. The researchers also note that their lighting solution is at least twice as efficient as compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs and on par with LEDs, but the bulbs won’t shatter and contaminate a home like CFLs or emit a bluish light like LEDs.

Wake Forest is working with a company to manufacture the technology and plans to have it ready for consumers as early as next year.

For More Information:

• Read Organic Electronics Article

For additional news stories please visit the News page.