Exploring high performance materials with a wide range of properties that can be easily adapted to withstand extreme thermal, electrical, and mechanical environments is on the cutting edge of research in both Ohio companies and universities. The University of Akron received a Research Commercialization Program (RCP) grant from Ohio Department of Development Third Frontier program for "Commercialization of Functional Polyimide Films and Nanocomposites." This grant is being used to target market applications of high performance materials that use several different materials types aimed at various performance enhancements. The project is an extension of the Center for Multifunctional Polymer Nanomaterials and Devices (CMPND), a 2005 Wright Center of Innovation. Kent Displays Inc. is a collaborator in the University of Akron RCP.
As a participant, Kent Displays is exploring the use of graphite thermal management films in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) through collaboration with another Ohio company and RCP participant, GrafTech International Holdings, Inc. Kent Displays develops and manufactures Reflex™ displays that are sunlight readable, reflective displays, which offer a display viewing experience without the typical distracting LCD scan rate and bright backlight. Instead, Reflex displays use ambient light to reflect an image from the display, thus allowing a more comfortable reading experience similar to paper. Since reflective displays can be used in sunlight, the heat created from solar loading needs to be managed to prevent temperature gradients across the display. Graphite electronic thermal management films, such as GrafTech SPREADERSHIELD™ heat spreaders, offer a potential solution to uniformly spread that heat and mitigate its effect on display performance.
Kent Displays has created a full-time materials development staff position in part to facilitate collaboration with GrafTech and accelerate development of their thermal management films for display applications. Development activities to date have focused on the use of the graphite thermal management film in Kent Displays Reflex LCD Electronic Skins. This product brings dynamic color to a wide range of personal electronic and other consumer products, allowing the user to choose the device case color in real time with just the press of a button. The ability to change the device appearance dynamically allows the user to spontaneously personalize a product to match their clothing, mood or preference.
Reflex Electronic Skins can be sensitive to temperature gradients due to solar loading and heat uniformity can be effectively managed using SPREADERSHIELD heat spreaders. While these materials may offer a solution, development through the RCP grant continues for more flexible and formable thermal management films. Commercial products incorporating the thermal management materials are not yet offered for sale. However, some companies that are part of the RCP have incorporated some of their other developments from the program into products that are currently available for sale.
Like other grants from Ohio Third Frontier, The University of Akron RCP has produced jobs in Ohio and interdependencies between Ohio companies and research institutions that have never before been achieved. These benefits from the Wright Centers like CMPND and the RCP grants are helping to build a high-tech industry across Ohio and reinforce a strong economic future for the State.
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Founded in 1993 as the result of a joint venture between Kent State University and Manning Ventures, Kent Displays, Inc. is a world leader in the research, development, and manufacture of Reflex™ liquid crystal displays for unique, sustainable applications. Its revolutionary Reflex LCDs retain an image without power and offer superior optical characteristics including sunlight-readability and wide viewing angles. In October 2008, Kent Displays installed a new roll-to-roll production line at corporate headquarters in Kent, Ohio, to mass produce Reflex LCDs from rolls of plastic. The line is the first of its kind in the world and produces no waste water/chemicals and less solvent emissions than sheet-based processes. The flexibility, durability and exceptional thinness of the resulting plastic displays, combined with no power image retention and superior optical characteristics, result in a versatile, environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional paper and backlit LCDs – with nearly endless applications. The company is committed to sustainability through technology innovation.
The Center for Multifunctional Polymer Nanomaterials and Devices (CMPND) is a research and commercialization partnership in polymer nanotechnology. This multi-institutional, interdisciplinary organization, centered at The Ohio State University, partners with the University of Dayton, the University of Akron, the University of Toledo, Kent State University, and Wright State University. For more information, cmpnd.org
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Links
Ohio Department of Development http://www.development.ohio.gov
CMPND http://cmpnd.org
Research Commercialization Program (RCP) http://www.ohiochannel.org/your_state/third_frontier_project/program.cfm?program_id=92899
Ohio Third Frontier http://www.thirdfrontier.com
Kent Displays, Inc. http://www.kentdisplays.com/
GrafTech http://graftech.com/
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