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Research Article | Open Access | Online first | Published: 03 May 2024

Enhanced photoluminescence of a microporous quantum dot color conversion layer by inkjet printing

Show Author's Information Junchi Chen1,  Qihao Jin1,  Yidenekachew. J. Donie2,  Orlando. T. Perales1,  Dmitry Busko3,  Bryce. S. Richards3,  Uli Lemmer1,3( )
Light Technology Institute (LTI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engesserstrasse 13, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota (UMN), 421 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0132, USA
Institute for Microstructure Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
Keywords:
quantum dots, inkjet printing, porous structure, phase separation, display technology
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Chen J, Jin Q, Donie YJ, et al. Enhanced photoluminescence of a microporous quantum dot color conversion layer by inkjet printing. Nano Research, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-024-6671-9
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Owing to their high color purity, tunable bandgap, and high efficiency, quantum dots (QDs) have gained significant attention as color conversion materials for high-end display applications. Moreover, inkjet-printed QD pixels show great potential for realizing full-color mini/micro-light emitting diode (micro-LED)-based displays. As a color conversion layer, the photoluminescence intensity of QDs is limited by the insufficient absorptance of the excitation light due to the lack of scattering. Conventional scatterers, such as titanium dioxide microparticles, have been applied after additional surface engineering for sufficient dispersity to prevent nozzle clogging in inkjet printing process. In our work, as an alternative approach, we use inkjet printing for depositing a phase separating polymer ink based on polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). QD/polymer composite pixels with scattering micropores are realized. The morphology of the micropores can be tailored by the weight ratio between PS and PEG which enables the manipulation of scattering capability. With the presence of the microporous structure, the photoluminescence intensity of the QD film is enhanced by 110% in drop-cast films and by 35.3% in inkjet-printed QD pixel arrays compared to the reference samples.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Enhanced photoluminescence of a microporous quantum dot color conversion layer by inkjet printing

Show Author's information Junchi Chen1, Qihao Jin1, Yidenekachew. J. Donie2, Orlando. T. Perales1, Dmitry Busko3, Bryce. S. Richards3, Uli Lemmer1,3( )
Light Technology Institute (LTI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engesserstrasse 13, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota (UMN), 421 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0132, USA
Institute for Microstructure Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany

Abstract

Owing to their high color purity, tunable bandgap, and high efficiency, quantum dots (QDs) have gained significant attention as color conversion materials for high-end display applications. Moreover, inkjet-printed QD pixels show great potential for realizing full-color mini/micro-light emitting diode (micro-LED)-based displays. As a color conversion layer, the photoluminescence intensity of QDs is limited by the insufficient absorptance of the excitation light due to the lack of scattering. Conventional scatterers, such as titanium dioxide microparticles, have been applied after additional surface engineering for sufficient dispersity to prevent nozzle clogging in inkjet printing process. In our work, as an alternative approach, we use inkjet printing for depositing a phase separating polymer ink based on polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). QD/polymer composite pixels with scattering micropores are realized. The morphology of the micropores can be tailored by the weight ratio between PS and PEG which enables the manipulation of scattering capability. With the presence of the microporous structure, the photoluminescence intensity of the QD film is enhanced by 110% in drop-cast films and by 35.3% in inkjet-printed QD pixel arrays compared to the reference samples.

Keywords: quantum dots, inkjet printing, porous structure, phase separation, display technology

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Received: 29 June 2023
Revised: 12 March 2024
Accepted: 30 March 2024
Published: 03 May 2024

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© The Author(s) 2024

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge support from the Karlsruhe School of Optics & Photonics and the China Scholarship Council. This research has also been funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy via the Excellence Cluster 3D Matter Made to Order (EXC-2082/1-390761711) and through the DFG priority program SPP 1839 “Tailored disorder”.

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Copyright: © 2024 by the author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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